Wangan Star
by Speed King
Summary: Three high schoolers buy cars to take on the Tokyo Racing Scene. More in the vein of Wangan Midnight, though now has a cameo!
1. First Taste Of Wangan

Sasaki Jotaro grimaced. _Eighteen years old today_, he thought as he stared at the ceiling from his bed. (Note: Surnames come first in Japanese culture)

Jotaro was getting his first car today, but he was worried about what it was going to be. He stepped out of his tiny bed and tiptoed past his sleeping brother, Keitaro. Keitaro was born on exactly the same date three years after Jotaro. He was going to be fifteen, when the lazy arse woke up. He checked his cell phone. It was already creeping past 10:00. Ah, he loved summer vacation!

After changing into some jeans and a T-shirt he wandered out into the main chamber of his family's tiny Tokyo apartment. His parents were lounging in their chairs, his father reading a newspaper and his mother solving a Su Doku puzzle.

"Good morning, sunshine," his mother didn't even look up from her Su Doku. "Who's my eighteen-year old baby boy??"

Jotaro was hardly a baby. He was about 6 feet tall, a giant in Japan.

"I think it's about time you stop with that," his father grunted, looking at her over the top of his reading glasses. He looked up at his son with a smile. "Is Keitaro still sleeping?"

Jotaro nodded.

"Lazy," his father sighed. "Are you still going out to the movies with Ichiro and Shinya?"

Jotaro shrugged. "Shinya's old Toyota Crown is falling apart. I don't think it's safe for human usage."

"Doesn't Ichiro have a car?" his mother asked.

"Yeah, an Efini RX-7 in the garage."

"Well, I guess we'll have to unveil our present a little early," his father said. "I have a feeling you're going to like this one a lot…"

"Is it a GT-R?" Keitaro was right behind him.

"I told you, we can't afford one of those," his father said. "…even still, I think this car will surprise you."

"It had better not be a front-wheel drive." Jotaro grunted before walking to the bathroom to put his contacts in and to comb his long black hair.

Inoue Shinya and Nakamura Ichiro were not your run-of-the-mill friends. At nine, the pair had been sent to the headmistress's office for exploding a 2-liter soda bottle in the boys' room. Now that they were eighteen like Jotaro, they were just getting more insane.

Shinya's family didn't have much money, so Shinya could only afford an aging green 1978 Toyota Crown sedan. It was comfy, but was falling apart after 300,000 kilometers of driving. Of course, the fact that Shinya had basically abused the car (his favorite stunt was the time he'd jumped over two keicars) made it worse. He was short but built, with brown, almost blonde hair.

Ichiro was almost the complete opposite. His father had bought him a red Efini RX-7 and Ichiro was in the process of tuning it for _Wangan _abuse. He'd spent almost 3,000,000 yen on it and was sponsored by HKS. But of course, it wasn't running yet. He towered above Shinya, but was only inches above Jotaro. His hair was black, but he wore it shorter than the other two.

"Man, this movie had better not suck," Shinya grumbled behind the wheel of his Crown. "Ichiro, you have no clue how hard I have to work to make a few lousy yen."

"Is the Efini running yet?" Jotaro ignored Shinya.

"No," Ichiro said flatly. "I ordered an engine management system but it hasn't come in yet. But I know that if I do it right, I could take down anyone on the _Wangan_."

"Even the Matchless Crowd Racing R34?" Shinya taunted.

"Alright, maybe not that. That car is a beast," Ichiro turned a little pale.

"Then again, I probably won't be racing on the C1," he said. "I'm heading straight for top speed territory. 'Smokey' Nagata, eat your heart out!!"

"Smokey Nagata's Supras would ice your whiny rotary anyday," Shinya said. "Anyway, we're here."

After the movie was over (Shinya complained, like always), they took the Crown back towards home. Shinya took a long detour out onto the _Wangan_ highway.

"Jotaro, if you're lucky, this is where you'll be in a few hours," Shinya said. "You won't win any races running dead stock, but it'll be fun for me and Ichiro."

"Well, considering your Crown is lucky to break 120 kilos," Ichiro said, "it'll be heaven to you."

"Shit…I don't think my Crown can hit _any _kilos," Shinya murmured. There was a brief silence as the car sputtered, wheezed, coughed, and died, in the middle of the _Wangan _highway, miles from their home.

Shinya pulled the car off to the side of the bridge they were on, cursing his luck.

"You had your choice of 318,763 kilometers to break down," Shinya said quietly. "…and you choose now."

He sighed and popped the hood open and thick black smoke clouded the air in front of him. Shinya let it cool for a few minutes and then tried every technique he knew to try and revive his dead vehicle. Ichiro had called for a tow truck, but it was miles away and they themselves needed a lift.

Then, as if by from heaven, a heavily-tuned Nissan R34 GT-R pulled over to the side of the highway and stopped dead behind of the dead Crown.

"You guys need a lift?" a blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigner rolled down the tinted window. "Looks like your Crown wasn't made for _Wangan _running."

Ichiro and Jotaro chuckled but Shinya just sulked.

_Well, it's certainly a sweet ride, _Jotaro thought. The Skyline was equipped with a Do-Luck body kit he recognized from a Hyper Rev magazine, even the low spoiler. The rims were Yokohama Super Advan Ver. IIs, black with a polished lip. It had a carbon hood and trunk and its idle was lumpier than the seats in Shinya's P.O.S. Crown. Jotaro spotted a sticker on the rear window which read _Wangan Emperor_.

An Isuzu tow truck blinked its hazards and pulled over in front of the two cars.

"Well, Shinya, we'll see you back at my house," Jotaro chuckled.

Ichiro beat Jotaro to the other side of the R34, but Jotaro took the front seat first. Ichiro reluctantly climbed into the back seat.

The interior of the R34 was bare. There was no radio, and most of the trim, including carpets, were gone. Ichiro nearly hit his head on a low-hanging section of a rollcage.

"Hardcore," he murmured.

The driver shifted into first and pulled off onto the highway, leaning back into his racing seat as he finessed another shift into second.

"Man, how old are you kids?" he asked as he passed by a string of taxi cabs. "Riding around in a pile of crap like that…"

"Seventeen," said Ichiro. "But I've got an Efini RX-7 at home."

"Another rotary freak in the making…" the driver said.

He chuckled. "I'm just messing with you guys. I'm Jeremy Westfield, captain of _Wangan Emperor_. So what do they call you guys when you're around?"

"Nakamura Ichiro."

"Sasaki Jotaro."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Jeremy said flatly. "Where do you guys live?"

"Well, it's his eighteenth birthday today," Ichiro said. "We were taking a detour in Shinya's Crown and it died."

"Eighteen?" Jeremy cracked a wide grin as a white C5 Corvette blew past on the left side. "Well, I guess I forgot to get a present. Can I make it up to you?"

Jotaro was about to say that it wasn't necessary when he felt himself being thrown back in his racing seat. The RB26DETT engine screamed and as the third gear ended, the blow-off valve shrieked and Jotaro was flung forward as Jeremy shifted into fourth and 250 kilos found its way into history.

The R34 was almost even with the Corvette now. Jotaro could feel his heart pounding through his chest as the 300 kilometer mark crept by.

_We're doing 310 kilos!!! _Jotaro thought, utterly amazed as the Corvette drew even, then slowly fell back until it was just a speck in the rearview mirror. _This is the fastest I've ever gone in my life!_

Finally, Jeremy throttled back and the speedometer crept back down to around 120 kilometers.

"So…where do you guys live?" Jeremy asked, as if nothing had happened

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The R34 GT-R eased its way into the narrow road. Almost hitting an older man on a tiny moped, Jeremy stopped the shining car in front of Jotaro's awed parents. In front of the house was another GT-R, this one a stock black R32 model.

Ichiro gasped. "You got an R32?!! Shinya's going to shit!"

As the two squeezed out of the low car, Jeremy called Jotaro over.

"Not a bad ride, kid. Well, I'll probably see you again on the highway soon, so keep in touch."

He handed Jeremy a slip of paper with a phone number and an e-mail address. "E-mail me all you want, but call me only when you think you're ready for _Wangan Emperor_."

With that, Jeremy gunned the RB26 turbo motor and drove off into the night.

"Shinya's still at the garage," Jotaro's dad said, watching the R34 go. He nodded to the R32. "Happy birthday, Jotaro."

Jotaro was speechless. "You…you said I wasn't getting a GT-R!"

His dad shrugged. "I lied. Besides, we all know how much you like the _Wangan_."

He nodded to the R32 again. "Go ahead. Take a drive."

"Not without Shinya," Jotaro said loyally.

His dad chuckled. "Well, here's the man himself."

The Crown, still coughing smoke, clattered noisily down the alley. Shinya hit the brakes and it wheezed to a grinding halt.

"How d'ya like my new ride, then, Shinya?" Jotaro leaned on his R32 GT-R. "Hurry up, I haven't got all night."

Shinya muttered something about luck, but climbed into the back seat and buckled himself in. Ichiro snuggled into the comfy seat, as did Jotaro.

"Won't go very far without the keys," Jotaro's father leaned in and jangled a keychain in front of the young man. Jotaro, with a smile, took them and inserted them in the ignition. "Don't go too fast now."

Jotaro fired up the RB26DETT engine, pressed in the clutch, and was off into the night.

"I still think we should've bought him the Suzuki Cappucino," his mother said, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.


	2. A Challenge?

The GT-R threw them back into their seats as its ATTESA-ETS all-wheel drive system kicked in, gripping the road insanely. The challenging car roared up alongside of him, engine roaring at full throttle.

It was a custom Toyota Supra, dark blue with red rays streaming from a red rising sun on the right side. Jotaro watched it pass by him at incredible speeds. The streetlights reflected off of the highly-polished paint, but the carbon spoiler and black Volk TE37 rims refused to shine. Large-diameter muffler shaking with the 2JZ-GTE engine's fury, its right turn signal flickered for a second before it moved smoothly across the lanes in front of the R32 GT-R.

The Supra screamed into a tunnel, exhaust note echoing everywhere. The brake lights flashed, then the Supra was hanging sideways. White smoke from the expensive racing tires wafted up, blocking Jotaro's view.

The big brake pads of the R32 clamped tight to their rotors for a split second. Then, all four wheels squealing, the R32 gripped the roadway as it changed direction and chased after its Toyota rival.

Shinya was looking green in the back seat, but Jotaro refused to back down. ATTESA-ETS AWD system pulling it forward, the R32 drew even with the Supra for a second. Then the 2JZ let out a howl and pulled gradually away.

Luck was squarely in Jotaro's back seat with Shinya. In the right lane ahead of the Supra was a lumbering semi truck. The Toyota was forced to slow down and let Jotaro pass, but not without an angry _honk_ on the horn.

Jotaro weaved dangerously between cars and, heel-toe braking, found his way around another curve in the tunnel.

The white dashes in the roadway looked almost like a single line to Ichiro as he looked over to Jotaro, who was screaming down the highway at more than 200 km/h.

"Slow down, man! You're going to kill us!!"

Jotaro merely laughed.

His right foot tapped the brakes, equalizing the heavy R32's balance to avoid the understeer that all GT-R drivers know. The GT-R's Yokohama tires squealed in protest, but bit down on the road and hurled the heavyweight Nissan out of the curve at maximum speed.

Shinya looked back, but their challenger was nowhere in sight. "He's gone, man! Slow up a bit!"

His stomach was churning fit to burst and his head was spinning. His mother's Toyota Voltz hadn't been up over 120 km/h and his Crown was lucky to get 90.

"You are INSANE!" he shouted at Jotaro. "What is wrong with you?!"

"You're still alive, aren't you?"

But even the seasoned Ichiro looked ashen. "That guy wasn't a typical fast-and-furious, Jotaro. That was Sakamoto Eichi, leader of _Rising Sun_. Their team is one of the fastest on the C1…all of them are able to drift and are ultra-experienced at weaving through traffic at 100-plus kilos. I don't know if he screwed up back there or what, but a 500 PS JZA80 Supra does not lose to a stock R32 GT-R…"

His voice trailed off in thought.

"He must've thought I was someone else," Jotaro finished lamely.

Ichiro looked over again. "Let's get out of here before we get challenged again…and hope we haven't started a turf war between the C1 gangs."


	3. Horsepower and Hakone

I'm sorry I haven't answered any reviews, e-mails, etc, so here's my reply, the third chapter. I don't like the way this chapter begins, it's kinda filler, but it's necessary. I'm already a lot further in the story than this, but I can't find time to post this, so be patient...

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The twin-turbocharged 13B-REW rotary engine hummed as the wheel rollers spun with the rear wheels.

"450 PS," Shinya said. "475…500…530…"

Jotaro's eyes bugged out. The computer was reading over 600 PS while the engine was revolving at 9,500 RPMs in fifth gear.

The dynamometer's wheel rollers slowed to a crawl and the engine's scream dropped to a dull hum.

"616 PS at 9,000 RPMs," Ichiro read. "Well, not bad for a car that weighs 1100 kilos."

Ichiro and Jotaro had formed the newest team on the Tokyo expressways. Though Shinya laughed at the fact that it was made up of a bone-stock R32 and an FD RX-7, whose owner barely knew how to drive, the two were serious about it.

"You guys won't last a week out there."

"You're right. We'll last for months."

Jotaro sat down and pulled out his Sony Vaio laptop.

"Give it a rest. You're getting paid big bucks to work every other night," Shinya complained. "While I have to work my fingers to the bone every day, except Sundays, to scrounge up a few mangy yen which usually ends up back in my Crown."

"Go apply. They're looking for help."

"Nah. I'm not the waiter type."

"Lazy slob," Ichiro said.

"It takes one to know one," Shinya retorted.

Jotaro looked up. "Hey, I got an e-mail back from Jeremy…"

"…And??"

_Hey kid, word about the R32 that blew away Eichi is traveling at mind-boggling speeds. Everyone on the Wangan is talking about you…and I gotta warn you. There's some pretty shady characters on the C1…I'd watch your step if I were you. Stay off the highways for a little while. The Tokyo Jungle is a dangerous place…especially for a kid as young as you._

_ -Jeremy Westfield_

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_

A trio of cars made their way up Mount Hakone in the Kanagawa prefecture. A red Efini RX-7 led the way, followed by a black R32 GT-R. In the rear was a black Toyota AE86 Levin. They crested the hill, one by one and pulled around to a halt.

Daylight was almost over. The radio of the GT-R read 8:15 PM and the sun was casting its last rays over the roadways down the mountain.

Ichiro leaned back against the FD3S. His two friends followed him and leaned against the racing-type car.

"What a day."

"Indeed, brother Ichiro," Shinya replied. "But now I have a heavily-tuned racing machine."

"I can't believe it's mine!!" he shouted, looking over lovingly at the Levin.

"Well, it looks pretty sweet," Jotaro said. "The SSR fat lip rims are a nice touch. And the body kit is nice…not too aggressive, but still going with the car's feel."

"Well, your R32 is looking more and more like a race car every day," Shinya said.

"350 PS isn't much for _Wangan _running, but it's almost perfect for the mountains. The car feels incredibly stable in corners."

"Probably because it weighs 1400 kilos," Ichiro coughed.

Jotaro ignored him.

Shinya's driving skills had considerably improved after five circuits of downhill racing on the Hakone pass. Hakone was a relatively easy pass compared to many of the other famous touge passes winding around Japan's many mountains. The roadway was wide enough to fit two Japanese muscle cars side-by-side with a bit of room to spare. The layout wasn't too technical, so even Shinya could drive at high speeds, and the straight sections were long and common.

It was 9:00 when Shinya's Levin crested the hill and pulled off to the side for a rest. Jotaro's black R32 was already cooling after its extensive runs but Ichiro was still trying to coax better times out of his intensely fast RX-7. It was stupid fast, but demanding to drive in a twisty course like this one. Ichiro had already spun three times, even though he was going uphill, instead of downhill like the other two drivers.

As Shinya talked with his friend, a silver Toyota Sprinter Trueno BZ-R (AE111 model) crested the hill and pulled alongside them.

The car had custom rims and was definitely lowered but the rest of the body was stock, except for a custom muffler coming out under the right side of the rear bumper.

The driver was a red-brown haired girl in a red T-shirt. She backed into the space next to Shinya's Levin.

_She's kinda cute, _Shinya thought.

"Are you guys racers too?" she asked, smiling. "I've never seen you guys around here before. But then again, this is only my third time on the course. I'm Tanaka Kaoru."

"I'm Inoue Shinya."

"Sasaki Jotaro, nice to meet you."

"We're new at Hakone too," Shinya said. "Our friend Nakamura Ichiro is here too…he has a red FD3S, but he can't control it."

"He went past me, going downhill. But he wasn't going very fast. Is he an uphill driver?"

"Yeah."

Kaoru smiled again. "I'm better on the downhill. But I'm still not very good."

"I just got this Levin yesterday, so I know how you feel," Shinya said.

"Do you…y'know, want to have a little race, Shinya? Just like, for fun. I want to get better at driving, and I think we're probably pretty evenly matched up."

Shinya shrugged. "Sure. Sounds like fun."

Kaoru looked overjoyed. "Thank you so much! We'll line up over here and Jotaro can flag us off."

"I'll call Ichiro and tell him to get his butt up here. Come to think of it…he should be here already."

At that precise moment, Jotaro's cell phone rang.

Shinya watched his friend's face go from happy to shocked in a matter of seconds and started up his Levin.

"Ichiro's had an accident. We've gotta go help him!"

Jotaro's R32 roared into life and was off down the pass.

"I guess our little race will have to wait…is tomorrow alright with you?"

"Fine," she nodded. "But just in case," she rummaged in her pocket then produced a small tablet and a pen. She scribbled down something, ripped out the paper, and folding it, gave it to Shinya.

"You're kinda cute," she said as Shinya pulled off, blushing.


	4. Sucks To Be Ichiro

Yay, another chapter. This one's another short one, mostly about the life of Ichiro. After writing this, I kinda felt bad for the guy...

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Ichiro's red FD had gone into the rail…hard. The front body kit was hanging off by a thread, badly bent, while the carbon hood was crumpled up into the air. The front wheels were facing opposite directions and suspension pieces littered the ground below the FD, along with a large puddle of oil.

Ichiro's head was bleeding, pooling in his hair and running down his face as he slumped against the steering wheel. The custom Momo unit failed to provide an airbag. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness since the accident. Somehow, he'd managed to get a call out to Jotaro's cell, but had fallen back, unconscious, after a few seconds.

The black R32 screamed to a halt next to the crumpled Mazda.

"Crap…"

Jotaro opened the drivers' side door. Ichiro looked up for a second, and then blacked out again.

Shinya's Levin pulled in a few seconds later.

"I already called in the wreck. There should be someone here in a few minutes."

His head bandaged and his pride bruised, Ichiro found his way out of the hospital to his father's awaiting Toyota Celsior a week later. As the chauffeur pulled them off, his father looked over to him.

"I warned you about racing…"

"I know, I know! I swerved to avoid some animal, that's all."

"Yes, but your RX-7 is ruined."

"I can fix it, no problem."

"I refuse to throw any more money into that car!"

"Then I'll build the thing myself, then!!!"

The argument escalated to a screaming match, until Ichiro said.

"SHUT UP!!! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!!!"

"GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!" his father screamed back.

"You're no son of mine!!"

Ichiro slammed the luxury car's door. "Damn straight."

The Celsior waited for a second, but Ichiro stormed away.

A white Isuzu tow truck, orange lights flashing, pulled the broken FD3S to Jotaro's house.

"Sign here, please."

"What?" Jotaro's dad said. "This…this isn't even my car!"

Jotaro signed the paper. "It's Ichiro's car, but he and his dad had a little falling out, so he needs someplace to keep the car."

"But our house? The parking garage where we keep our cars doesn't have room."

"Neither does Shinya's…"

"Well, we'll figure something out."

His dad stopped. "Where's Ichiro going to sleep?"

"Ichiro? …uh…I told him we had extra…errr…room."

Jotaro's dad rolled his eyes. "If you must…he can sleep in your room…Keitaro can sleep in the main room on the sofa."

As he walked back into the house, Jotaro dialed his cell. "Ichiro?" he whispered. "You're at my house!"

The restaurant was packed full of people. Jotaro grabbed a platter and hurried to a nearby table.

"This is for you, sir…and for you, ma'am…"

The customers nodded their thanks and began to eat while Jotaro ran back to get drinks for a couple sitting at the table near the door.

Ichiro, newly hired, was already there. "I've got this one," he told Jotaro. "I need the money more than you do."

"Whatever," the R32 driver said. He grabbed another platter and headed for one of the other tables he was working, passing by his long-time friend, Nao.

"Packed tonight, huh?"

"Yeah, and we're the only ones here…"

Jotaro reached the table just in time to see Ichiro drop one of the drinks on the floor.

"Man, I'm earning this," Ichiro sighed as he mopped up the mess.


	5. A Break From Speed

This chapter is another that details the characters, but another racing battle is coming up, along with some crazy Russian dude in an R34...

Again, I know I don't have any Initial D characters yet because this has all been written out already. This is pretty much an original story, but I plan to have a few characters make a slight appearance, soonest perhaps the Akuma No Z against the Cama...I've said too much.

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Ichiro sighed and ran his hand down the crumpled hood of his FD3S. "No more touge battles for you, FD," he said. "I guess my driving isn't all I thought it was…"

"How is she?"

Jotaro stood in the doorway of the garage, holding the keys to his R32 GT-R.

"Well, I was hoping that before summer vacation ended, I'd be able to have her back in working order…but even working every day this last week, I still don't have half the cash."

"Now you know how Shinya and I feel, Ichiro," Jotaro replied, though not unkindly. "Changing the subject…Shinya and I are taking on the C1 again tonight. You wanna tag along in the R32?"

"I'm working every day up until school starts to make money for the FD3S."

"Ouch," Jotaro said. "Sure you don't wanna take off?"

"Positive," Ichiro said flatly. "I'm gonna go change…can you give me a ride?"

"Yeah, I'll bring the R32 over in about five minutes."

Nao sighed. "Ichiro, is something wrong? You've been working all this past week…and the schedule says you're working every day…right up until school starts."

"I'm trying to make a little extra cash, that's all."

"Even Mr. Work-A-Holic Jotaro took off. Now, either you're becoming your father, or I'm going to start worrying about you."

Ichiro turned away. "My life has taken a plunge into an abyss. My FD is in the shop again…after I took out a rail at 100 kilos! First day it's running, too…first week of summer! And while Jotaro and Shinya are scorching the Hakone pass, I'm lying in a hospital bed with a minor concussion! Five minutes after I'm out of the hospital, my dad practically disowns me. I haven't seen or heard from him in a week…hell, I've been living at Jotaro's, eating Ramen noodles trying to scrounge up enough cash to fix the FD. Face it Nao…I'm a fuckup."

"Ichiro, don't be so hard…"

"And then, to make matters worse, Shinya's out all the time with this cutie from Kanagawa. And you and Jotaro…it's no secret."

"Wha-?"

But Ichiro was almost in tears.

"I just…love racing, love that rush, love the feeling that, for once, I'm in control… Me and the machine, the machine and me, together in one…but, but it seems like it's forbidden fruit to this guy!"

"Ichiro, you…you love it that much?"

"Yes, Nao. That is my one desire in life…to become the fastest driver the world has ever seen!"

Nao sighed. "Listen, Ichiro…you and Jotaro have been very kind to me in the past, even when I was an ugly, acne-infested teen on the brink of suicide, you stuck with me when everyone else left. I always felt I owed it to you guys for that."

She began to massage Ichiro's shoulders.

"It's obvious you're very tense. I have a little extra saved up…it was for a professional school, but being that I live here, I think I can have my mom help pay me through…anyway, I'll be able to squeeze by. I'm going to quit the job…"

"You're quitting?!!"

"Shh…" Nao quieted him. "What I meant was that I'm going to become a part-time chef here. The money is good, and I'll still see a lot of you guys."

"Look, Ichiro, the last summer before you graduate is a very special time. It's your last real chance to go out and have fun with your friends, and I can't let you waste it. Ichiro, you're not a waste…I believe in you, just as you believed in me. The money, I think, belongs to you more than me…you want to win, and I'm willing to stand beside you for it."

"But, Nao, I can't…"

"Don't argue with me, my mind is made up," Nao finished. "Now, go tell Boss that you're working on Jotaro's schedule for this last bit of summer."

"Nao, I can't…"

"Oh, yes, Ichiro, and that thing about Jotaro and I…we're just friends."

She kissed him and any tension left in Ichiro's body dissolved.

"You're not changing my mind."

She walked away.

"Boss?" Ichiro called, "can I change my schedule quick?"

Meanwhile, in Kanagawa…

Shinya sat on the bench, looking out over the mountain. The town's lights twinkled below them, lighting the foliage down the mountain below. Kaoru shifted next to him, and before he knew it, his hand was in hers.

"Shinya, I've been at the top of Mount Hakone many times, but it's always beautiful."

She pressed closer to him and Shinya could smell her minty breath mixed with sweet perfume and his heart began to beat faster.

"And now, with someone to share it with…"

She drew closer, but suddenly pulled away and walked to the Levin, pulling Shinya with her.

"I think I love you, Inoue Shinya," she said as she pulled the door shut. And even though he was in a tight bucket seat with a girl sitting on his lap, Shinya had never felt better.

Five minutes passed by, then ten, and soon enough, the sky was a deep shade of blue and the stars twinkled in the sky.

Along with the headlights of a blue R34 GT-R.

_That's gotta be the car, _he thought with a smirk. _A black AE86 Levin. Inoue Shinya. Yup. I think I can see her in there with..__**him**_

His smile disappeared and he concentrated on what he was doing.

"I loved you, Kaoru," the massive Russian man said as he got out of his car, holding a 9 millimeter pistol. He smoothed his slicked-back black hair. "I loved you with all my heart, and my soul, Kaoru. But you had to go find someone else…"

"You told me I was too rough, too jealous, too aggressive and forward and you needed time off…"

He gulped visibly as he could now clearly see Kaoru kissing Shinya.

"…well, your time is up!"

He aimed the pistol.

"Sweet dreams, SHINYA!!!"

There was a reverberating crash and the right rear window broke and clattered to the floor of the Levin.

"What the hell?!"

Shinya sat up straight and rued it the instant he did it. The massive gunman switched targets, and a bullet shattered the window, missing Shinya's head by inches.

Shinya, still ducking low as bullets peppered the sides of his Levin, pushed the key into the ignition, but the Levin wouldn't start.

Kaoru, ducking, scrambled across into the passenger seat, but no bullets were aimed at the girl.

_He's after me?!_

"Come out, come out, Shinya! Die like a man!"

The Levin's 4A-G finally roared to life and Shinya dropped it into first gear, burned rubber, and took off downhill.

"You can run, little mouse…but you can't hide."

Within seconds, the roar of an RB26DETT echoed through the night.


	6. AllWheel Drive Challengers

Lame chapter name, I know. Couldn't think. Anyway, the last chapter, a random Russian guy in a R34 tries to kill Shinya. Now they're escaping down the Hakone pass away from him. Please submit a review if there's something I need to work on or car specs i need to fix. Thanx again.

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"Who the hell was that?"

Kaoru blushed as she pushed her hair behind her ears. "My boyfriend."

"What!?"

"He's kinda the jealous pig type. I've been trying to end it for weeks! Now he thinks I'm cheating on him…"

"Oh, thanks for telling me!"

THUMP!!!

"Aaargh!!!"

Shinya and Kaoru were thrown forward in their seats as the R34 full-on nailed them from behind.

Shinya, whose situation was already hopeless, could've cried. "Your murderous ex-boyfriend drives an R34 GT-R!? Why don't we just stop and _let _him kill me!"

"I don't see what the problem is!" Kaoru shouted back. "I thought _you _were a racer too!"

"WHAT?! He's a racer too?"

"Oops…"

The Levin was thrown violently forward again as the Skyline's bumper collided with the Levin's.

Shinya's distraught mind flashed back to a video he had once seen…Keiichi Tsuchiya in an AE86 Trueno…racing against an R34 driven by NOB Taniguchi.

_But…but…Tsuchiya won! _Shinya thought, confused. _It was…it was a downhill touge pass, now I remember! _

_Well, NOB is about as good as Tsuchiya…so…if we're about equals…_

_Can I do it? It is a downhill…_

Shinya looked over at Kaoru…and his mind was instantly made up.

_I'm doing this…for her!!!_

Shinya tapped the brakes and rushed into the first corner!

"Whoa! That Levin's actually half decent!"

The R34 braked slightly and took the curve with mild understeer, common for a GT-R.

"Alright, sucker, you picked the wrong course to mess with me!" the Russian man yelled as his GT-R powered out, four wheels screaming. "I know Mount Hakone like the back of my hand…I practically _live _on it!"

"Tokyo boy, you're in for a rude awakening…"

"Let's see how he likes this move…"

Shinya slammed on the brakes and full-on rushed into the corner.

"He's pulling away from me!"

Shinya powerslid through and, regaining control, took the straightaway.

"Yes! You're losing him!!"

Shinya did nothing to let her know he had heard.

_Focus, Shinya, focus! You've got to blow this guy off the road!_

Tires squealing, Shinya screamed around the next bend. The GT-R screamed out after him and Shinya spotted him in the rearview, gaining fast.

"Kaoru, would you do me a favor and turn the mirror the other way?"

"What!?"

"Just do it!!!"

Hearing the forcefulness in his voice, Kaoru turned the rearview towards herself.

_Good. Now I can focus on the road itself…and blow this sucker away!!!_

The GT-R driver's eyes opened wide as the Levin vanished again…only to appear again at the corner exit.

_That's it!! I am officially sick and tired of this guy blowing me away in corners! Next hairpin…I'm taking him out!!!_

_Here we go!!!_

Shinya could hear the roar of the GT-R bearing down on him.

_Hold it…hold it…alright, handbrake!_

The R34 driver briefly shot by Shinya in the outside lane as he prepared to brake.

"Idiot…" sighed Shinya. "He can't enter the corner at that speed!"

The R34 driver slammed his wheel to the right and pulled the E-brake. The GT-R swung clumsily sideways, sliding towards the rail.

"Alright! I'm drifting!"

He counter-steered…

…And the GT-R snapped back. Hard.

"Aaahh!!! NO!!!!"

The beauty of the GT-R's front end was lost to the rail as it was completely destroyed. The driver's face was pummeled by the airbag as the GT-R's bodywork was torn apart and the rear end flew into the air.

"Ouch…"

Shinya took his foot off the throttle for a second, but Kaoru grabbed his arm and screamed, "No!"

Shinya looked back one last time to see smoke leaking out from under the crumpled hood.

Then Shinya began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" demanded Kaoru.

"This is the corner where Ichiro lost it! Talk about idiots…"

The R34 driver, defeated and broken, staggered out of the car only to see the Levin vanishing ahead.

"A defeat?" he snarled as blood trickled down his lip. "This calls for only one thing!"

He pulled out his cell phone.

"To bring down the thunder!"

Tokyo…

Ichiro and Jotaro howled with laughter as the S15 Silvia shrunk in their rearview mirror.

"That's the last time you cut me off!" Jotaro yelled above the roar of the tuned RB26DETT. "Shinkanjou Sliders, my ass! That was the third member today."

"Wow, even with only 415 PS, this thing could give my FD a run for its money," Ichiro said, looking over at the speedometer. "Over 100, no sweat, but that AWD does wonders, even in a tank like this."

"Hey, shut up, my GT-R isn't a tank! Anyway, it only weighs…1300, something kilograms…The R33 is up in the 1400s!"

Ichiro sighed. "…and don't even get me started on GTOs."

"What are they, 1600?"

"More like 17," Ichiro replied.

Only Ichiro noticed the dark green car screaming up on them.

"Hey, speak of the devil," he said.

But, by then, the Twin Turbo GTO flashed its headlights and the battle was on!

Ichiro barely had time to grab hold of the grab handle as the R32 surged forward.

But the Z16A was almost alongside them.

"He's flexing some serious power! Look at that acceleration!"

Even over the RB26, both could clearly hear the low bellow of the Mitsubishi drawing up on them.

"Alright, GTO boy…you may have power…but let's see what you've got in corners."

The most dangerous part of the Shinkanjou lay ahead of them…three fierce corners in a row. Coming from the last straightaway, one will be doing at least 200 km/h…so these corners test your braking skills, as well as cornering skills.

Jotaro screamed into the first corner, braking at the last possible second.

"What?! The GTO's wedging itself in on the _outside_?!"

"Dude, shut up! This isn't Formula One!"

"Sorry." Ichiro shut up.

They raced side-by-side into the first corner, Skyline inside, GTO outside.

_He…he's blocking my line! I can't accelerate!_

Jotaro roared out, slightly ahead, but the amazing power of the GTO won out and the GTO drew even yet again.

_I didn't lose to a Supra…I will NOT lose to you!!!_

_But he's on the inside now…but I have a lighter car…I can outbrake you!_

The brakes clamped together tightly and the four tires screamed in protest as the heavy R32 shot past in the outside lane and went inside, blocking off the GTO.

_My tires feel worn…I've got to stay ahead or I'll never catch up!_

Jotaro powered out of the corner, GTO hard on his heels, and prepared to take the final corner.

Then both men were shocked as the massive car pulled a hard braking move, rushed in, and four-wheel drifted through the narrow opening!!!

"!?"

The battle was over. The GTO slid sideways through the corner without countersteering, making full use of the inside lane extension while Jotaro struggled for grip on the outside. A counterattack was impossible.

Exiting the corner, the GTO spun its four wheels to shake off the drift, and, 6G72 engine roaring, took off into the night.

"Who was that guy!?" Jotaro wondered as the MMC was lost into the night.

"There you go, Eichi," Tsukamoto handed the Supra driver a blank CD and plopped down on the sofa next to him.

"What? I…uh, mean, what is it?"

"Your 'mysterious GT-R' bit. I found him in Shinkanjou…after he blew away the Shinkanjou Sliders team…pathetic."

Eichi opened the DVD player and put the disc in, hitting play before he sat down.

A porn flick began.

"Aaargh! Wrong disc!!" Tsukamoto cried as he hit stop and took his CD back. "Look, they're all unlabeled," he explained as Eichi gave him a stern glance (Eichi had a long-time girlfriend).

"I'll…uhh, bring it over tomorrow."

"Oh, and by the way, Eichi," Tsukamoto said as he headed for the door. "He lost."

"Aargh…I still can't believe Jotaro lost," Ichiro sighed. "This is so depressing…some GTO comes outta nowhere and destroys the R32, in corners even! After Eichi…"

"…we thought I was invincible. It's just like they say, no matter how good you are, there's always someone better. But regardless, the discovery always hurts."

"Don't get yourself worked up about it," Ichiro said. "After all, he's probably been racing the Shinkanjou since we were sitting in middle school."

_He had skills…to match the power. Drifting in a 4WD? I didn't even know that was possible! _

"Well, serves me right for thinking I could race on near-bald tires," Jotaro said.

_Speaking of which, I gotta get new ones._

Ichiro leaned back against Jotaro's bed and bounced a tennis ball off the wall. "Man, I drove one of those too." He caught the ball and threw it again. "It was all understeer…the very physics of getting that monster sideways are…unimaginable."

_Even though I beat five other cars and that guy probably had double my power output, I still can't make myself feel good…is it because that guy is…__better__ than me??_

There was a screech of brakes in front of Jotaro's house.

"And there's Shinya."

"Dude, where the hell were you? You swore you'd give me a call after the race…and I got one from your mom, asking if you were with us! She was worried SICK about you, man."

"Sorry, guys, I had a late night and my cell was out of batteries."

Ichiro looked up. "You were out with Kaoru…you didn't!!!"

Shinya shook his head. "Things got a little crazy and I had to stay with Kaoru. My mom knows about it, it's fine."

Jotaro looked closer at the Levin.

_They couldn't be…_

…_but the window is broken too!_

"Are those…_bullet holes!?_"

"I'll tell you inside," Shinya grumbled and grabbed a camcorder out of the Levin.

"Dude, she is such a skank!" Jotaro swore after hearing the story. "She wanted to freaking videotape you two doing…it…so her friends wouldn't laugh at her?!"

"And her crazy, Russian boyfriend comes after you, trying to kill you?"

"Face it, Shinya," Jotaro said, "this chick is nothing but trouble.

"Don't I know it…" Shinya replied, but his face fell. "That's what I've been trying to tell myself, but she looks so damn…innocent."

"So what happened?"

"I could tell you…" Shinya smirked, "but I've got it all on camera, so why bother?"

He turned on the TV. "Check this out."

Kaoru was sucking on Shinya's neck.

Shinya turned beet-red. "Let me…errmm…fast forward this a bit…"

He stopped it just as the first bullet struck and the trio watched in amazement from the moment the chase began until the hairpin race.

"What do you think?"

"Well, the driver sucked, but that still doesn't change the fact that you destroyed an R34."

Shinya grinned. "How about you, J? Who did you blow off the road while I was gone?"

Jotaro's pained expression told him all he needed to know. "Sorry, man."

"Hey, I found a site that documents Tokyo racers, well at least the top ones…tell me what the car was and I'll find it, specs and all."

"Dark green Mitsubishi Twin Turbo GTO MR. '99 model. Ran on the Shinkanjou."

Shinya picked up Jotaro's laptop and typed a few letters in.

"Holy crap! You just raced the…the 'King of Shinkanjou'!"

Jotaro sighed. "It figures. I thought it was just the leader of those Shinkanjou Sliders…"

"Read this," Ichiro said, eyes widening. "This guy, Tsukamoto, is known as the King of Shinkanjou. The car is tuned specifically for the Shinkanjou. It has gear ratios tuned for full-on acceleration but it can still top 280 kilometers per hour. It has massive brakes to give it incredible slowing prowess for the sudden corners of the Shinkanjou."

"Don't I know it…"

"Tsukamoto himself is an incredible driver, even without the amazing power of his GTO. He is a well-trained professional racer by day, says the GTO is the fastest GTO around Fuji Speedway…and Tsukuba. Dude, you didn't have a chance in hell against this guy…says he can reach 685 PS from his 6G72."

Shinya's phone rang loudly. "Gimme a second, guys."

He walked into the kitchen. "What do you want, Kaoru??"

His eyes widened. "Shit!!!"

He threw his cell phone down in disbelief.

"Guys…we've got to go to Kanagawa…now!!!"


	7. Nikolai Fights Back

Kaoru was bound and gagged in the back of a gray Lancer Evolution V. Nikolai, her ex-boyfriend, leaned against the door as she screamed and banged against it.

"You're not getting out, no matter how hard you try…"

Nikolai was a more shady character than Shinya expected. He'd called in a bosuzoku gang (street racing gang) after his R34 had crashed, using Kaoru as bait to attract the trio of racers.

"Here he comes now…" the gang's leader, Tetsuya, looked down the road at the approaching Levin. He wore a white bandanna over his head and wore a spiked leather jacket combined with a shirt with the Rising Sun on it. "And it looks like he brought his friends along…"

The Levin had hardly rolled to a stop when Shinya jumped out, but was stopped by his friends Jotaro and Ichiro from running full-force and attacking the gang.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Testy, testy," taunted the leader and the whole gang laughed along with him. "Not to worry, she's in here. He opened the back door of the Mitsubishi Lancer.

Shinya strained to get away from his friends, but they held firm.

But Tetsuya only slammed the door shut. "Cute, isn't she?"

"You touch her…"

Jotaro and Ichiro restrained their friend again. "What do you want for her?"

"We want a touge battle on this pass…under _our_ conditions. Unless you just want to give up now…which would be very wise."

"Conditions?" Jotaro asked.

"If you win, Kaoru goes with you, we all leave and you never hear from us again, or Nikolai over here." He pointed to the Russian man. "But if we win…"

"…well, your Kaoru is back with Nik, whether she wants to be or not and we'll all have a bit of fun with her…and we'll just take that Levin…and crush it for the money you owe Nikolai for his GT-R."

"Alright then," Shinya said. "You're on!"

The weaselly leader grinned. "Alright then. Takeshi here will take the hillclimb against the R32 in his EVO V…and I'll personally deal with this Levin in my STi."

He sat down on a GD model Subaru, painted white with a carbon hood and gold wheels.

"It's only an STi, RA Spec C, the fastest STi ever."

"In the case of a draw?" Jotaro asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Tetsuya replied.

"We'll run the hillclimb first, so get the R32 ready. Takeshi, you know what to do. Are Daijin and the others ready?"

"Waiting at the checkpoints," the Lancer driver replied.

"Good," Tetsuya said. "C'mon, Levin boy…top of the mountain."

The white Subaru took off, but no one else moved.

Before Shinya could follow, Jotaro held him back.  
"Watch your back around these guys. Especially that one, Tetsuya."

He handed Shinya a switchblade. "You can't be too careful around the bosuzoku."

With that, Shinya took off uphill.

Takeshi grinned maliciously. "Touge rules?"

"Yeah, I know 'em."

"I guess since we're the home team…and we're going to win, regardless, you can pick the starting position."

_I'm on crap tires…I can't make the race too long._

He looked over at the gray Lancer. _Plus, I have no clue how powerful that car is._

_And after this left onto the hill, it's a long, long, straight._

_I have only one option!_

"I'll take the rear position!"

Takeshi grinned. "You asked for it."

He picked up Kaoru and put her inside another Evolution just like his.

"Alright, let's race!"

Takeshi pulled the gray Lancer up in front of Jotaro's R32 according to touge rules.

"See you later, ass."

One of the bosuzoku members walked out between them.

"Go! Yon! San! Ni! Ichi!"

"GO!!"

Both AWD road machines screamed off the line at full throttle!

Takeshi's driving skills weren't as good as his leader, Tetsuya's. But Takeshi had been picked for two reasons. One, his blocking skills were among the elite. No one ever got past Takeshi through the inside of a corner. Two, he was gifted at playing mind games with his opponent…using techniques to throw them off their game.

The Lancer Evolution was faster off the line and slightly pulled away at first, but the R32's low-end torque (thanks to its larger engine) equaled out the weight difference between the two cars.

Takeshi waited to jump into the first corner, a tight left-hander where the road narrowed to just two lanes. It was a tricky corner to take.

"I'll just block you out, R32! You're not getting past me!"

Takeshi shifted his car to the center line jumping into the corner, but, hard braking, the R32 roared into the outside lane.

"What are you trying to do, R32? You can't pass on the outside!"

The brakes clamped together tightly and the tires screeched in protest, but the R32's nose passed the Evolution's for a split second, then Jotaro pressed inside with all the force he had!

Both cars were now dead-even with each other, but as the cars screamed through, Takeshi found that he had a problem!

_This guy's blocking my line out of the corner…I can't accelerate fully! But he can't either…can he??_

Coming out, the Evolution was burned as the R32's side nudged the outside bank of the road. Despite the weight difference in the two cars, the R32 surged ahead, thanks to its better line and out-of-corner speed!

_Dang!!! How the hell…did you do that?!_

The hillclimb battle was over before it even began.

At the summit, the downhill clash was about to begin!

_Gasoline…check. Engine temperature…low. Mirror…_

Shinya grinned as he looked at his reflection.

_Handsome dude…_

Then he turned the mirror away from him.

_Check._

_Secret weapon?_

_Check._

_Now let's get this show on the road!_

Shinya pressed the hazards down, but not without noticing his hand shaking like a leaf in autumn!

_Alright, Levin, _he thought as he carefully applied throttle, _It's you, me, and an opponent. We've got to smoke him!_

The image of the bound Kaoru flashed through his mind and his heart gave a sudden twinge of pain.

_For Kaoru!_

The Nardi wheel was twisted to the right, then to the left, then right again as the Levin tailslid through the first corner, Subaru hard on his heels.

_Brakes!_

Shinya heel-toe downshifted and screamed through the left hairpin, rear tires smoking as they kicked sideways.

"Eat this, Tetsuya!"

_Damn! This Levin!_

Tetsuya downshifted and gripped the corner, but even with his AWD power, the minute Toyota hatchback was leaving him.

_I'm catching him coming out…that's obvious, but in the straights he's actually staying even with me!_

_How is that possible? Nikolai said that the Levin was no match in straights for a bone-stock R34…_

…_Is it possible he modified it since yesterday???_

Shinya's shoulder straps were the only thing holding him from flying forward as he rushed in, braking with full percent of the brakes. Of course, the Levin did not have ABS…so Shinya had adapted, making him an even better driver without realizing it!

Finally, he pressed down harder to make his rear wheels lock, creating a drift which carried him through the next corner, away from the Subaru.

_This is gonna be tight!_

He screamed through, just barely missing the guardrail.

_I've gotta save Kaoru!_

Sweat dripped down Shinya's face and his knuckles were white on the wheel as the Levin slid sideways through another corner.

He grabbed another gear, shifting with speeds only an automatic transmission could match even though he was driving an ancient Toyota hatchback.

_Now for the corner…_

He slammed down a gear and was modulating his brakes carefully when the Levin gave a scream of fury.

_Shit! I went into second instead of fourth!!!_

Shinya was lucky that the transmission wasn't instantly destroyed, but the Levin shuddered ominously and the Subaru easily caught up, gaining back all the ground Shinya had worked so hard to achieve.

Shinya could feel the Subaru right behind him as he took the hairpin, and as he exited…

_BUMP!_

"What the hell!?"

The Subaru's front bumper connected with the Levin's rear end, almost causing a spinout as the rear end slid across the shoulder.

"Aaarrghh!!!!"

He countersteered, trying at the same time to regain control and keep the pressing Subaru at bay.

Tetsuya swore as the Levin swung across the road.

_Well, there's another trip to the damn shop…thanks a lot, cell phone!_

It was ringing off the hook ever since the race started and had almost caused a serious crash.

He ignored it, yet again, as the Subaru's AWD sent him down the short straightaway between the next corner.

"Man, this isn't good. Tetsuya isn't picking up his phone."

"Well…the Levin's still out in front. If anyone's going to hit 'im, it's going to be the Levin."

"He's a pretty crazy driver, from what Nikolai says. Maybe they'll make it around him…"

"…and maybe they won't."

Shinya rushed into the next corner, cursing his pursuer. He slammed on the brakes as late as he could, then drifted through the corner at high speed…

…and came face to face with a truck!!!


	8. A Victory and a Loss

"NO!!!"

Shinya refused to crash like this. He had to finish this race…for Kaoru!!!

Shinya steered back into the inside lane and drifted around the truck as it skidded towards the outside rail.

The nose of the Levin touched the truck.

The rear bumper scraped the rail.

It was that close.

"AARRGHH!!"

Tetsuya slammed on the brakes and skidded to a halt, inches from hitting the truck head-on. For a few seconds, there was nothing but the sound of heavy breathing and the idle of racing engines.

Then the two cars slowly drove back down to the base.

Shinya had won!

Tetsuya bowed to them. "With honor, we admit defeat."

Takeshi unbound Kaoru, who rubbed her sore wrists and then ran over to Shinya, standing beside his Levin.

"AND YOU'RE JUST GOING TO GIVE IN LIKE THAT!?"

Nikolai was beet-red. A vein pumped in his forehead and his meatlike hands were balled into fists.

"Nikolai, we lost…in Japan, there is something called honor. We honored our promise…now don't dishonor us by fouling our promise!!!"

"I don't fucking believe this."

The huge Russian man stormed off to a rental car.

"You'll have to excuse Nikolai," Tetsuya said as the car screamed away, chirping the tires. "He's a bad loser."

Shinya ran his hand over the bullet holes in his Levin. "You got that right."

"But before we leave…I want to know how your Levin was keeping even with me…in the straightaways!!"

"WHAT!?" Ichiro and Jotaro gaped while Kaoru and Shinya grinned widely.

"Nikolai said that yesterday, he was killing you in the straights with a bone-stock GT-R…but you can keep up with a 330 PS Subaru WRX STi? Something's fishy here."

Without saying a word, Shinya opened his door and popped the hood.

"There's your reason."

A 3S-GTE engine, straight from an SW20 MR2, sat inside the engine bay.

"How the hell, Shinya?!"

"I told you I had a late night…"

Tetsuya smiled. "You must be quite the mechanic."

He walked back to his Subaru and started it. Within seconds, the bosuzoku gang previously crowding the parking area was gone.

"It did seem to be a bit louder…" Ichiro stammered.

"You wanna get something to eat?" Shinya said, as if nothing had happened. "I'm starving my butt off."

The two cars, minus Kaoru, arrived back in Tokyo around 7:30. Jotaro and Shinya parted ways but there was some dirty work afoot.

As Jotaro went to park the R32, a huge man with a shirt labeled REPO was tying down Ichiro's FD to a flatbed truck.

"What the fuck?!"

The man looked up.

"NIKOLAI!!!"

He jumped inside the cab as the driver floored the engine, door still open.

"CATCH THE BASTARD!!!"

They followed the truck until it got onto the freeway…then Jotaro had a revelation.

"Ichiro, I'm almost out of gas."

Ichiro looked at him with an expression looking close to tears.

"I'm sorry, man."

Within three days there was no word from the police. Kaoru had tried Nikolai's cell and house phone…there was no answer.

Ichiro slammed his fist into the wall so hard after the last call that his knuckles began to bleed.

"I swear…nothing ever works out for me, does it!? I mean, Buddha must fucking hate my guts! Look at my life!! Living with a friend. Stolen car with over 300,000 yen poured into it. A father that hates me."

"My life SUCKS!!!!!"

He walked out the door.

"Ichiro, wait!!"

"What do you want?!"

"There's a good junkyard I know…maybe you can find something."

"Thanks…but no thanks."

A few hours later, the tall 17-year old walked into the junkyard, looking around at the cars and trucks, some in good condition, some totally gone, piled high to the sky.

"There's an RX-7…oh, but it's an SA22 model…nah, forget it. I don't want another rotary engine on this salary."

He walked past another pile, all the while expecting to see his precious FD on top of one of the piles, stripped of all its components.

"AE86 Trueno…Mitsubishi Mirage…"

Then he saw a car that piqued his interest.

_What is it?_

The car was definitely an eighties model, but one he'd never seen before. It was long and low, and looked about the same size as a Z31 Fairlady Z or Supra.

It was faded blue with silver painted around the bottom edges of the car's factory body kit. The front showed a black plastic grille which rose into a pair of headlights…not pop-ups, but four of them in front of a vented hood. There was no badge.

"Odd…"

He walked alongside of it and could see that there was some sticker there right in front of the rear wheel well…the car was sitting on cinder blocks.

"IROC?"

He opened the door.

"Whoa!"

There were two bolstered racing seats in front of a full roll cage. Looking closer, Ichiro could clearly see a fuel cell underneath where a pair of back seats could have once stood.

"What is _this _thing doing in a junkyard?"

He found the lever underneath the steering wheel and popped the hood.

_What kind of engine is this…look at it!_

_It's naturally aspirated…I can't see any turbos or superchargers. But it's huge! Probably at least 5 liters…_

_Plus everything here doesn't make sense…look at it. It's so…simple. I mean, it has a carburetor!_

"It's not for sale."

The junkyard worker looked angrily up at him.

"What?! Why not?"

The man's eyebrows quivered with fury, then he left.

_What was up with that…_

_This car is a BEAST!!! _Ichiro thought to himself as he passed a semi in the center lane of the _Wangan_. _I mean, this really puts my FD to shame._

_It has to have been tuned by a racing genius…or at least a professional. The suspension settings are stiff, so it's very stable, even at 200 kilos…but then again, with these crap tires and cheap rims, I wouldn't wanna do much more. But the chassis is solid, the handing's tight, and these brakes are amazing…no fade at all. The only problem is that the clutch is so heavy…I can hardly put it in when shifting, but it's only a small price to pay for all this sweet speed._

_But the engine…the engine is what really blows me away. The response is incredible, no turbo lag, or anything. What's even better is that I can rev it right up to 9,000 RPMs, just like the FD, even though it's a monster V8._

_And not to mention the full-race bellow!_

Ichiro pressed down on the throttle and the engine roared.

_This is my car…my Camaro!!!_

"Ichiro, where were you last night?"

Ichiro rolled over and tried to block out Jotaro's voice. "Out."

"Obviously," Jotaro said. "You weren't back until 3 in the morning. Dude, my dad's not gonna go for that during the school year."

"Hey, I'm paying rent," Ichiro said, eyes still closed. "Why should he care what I do? Anyway, your dad hasn't complained yet. Why would he?"

"At least Keitaro's out of the house most of the time," Jotaro said. "He's a huge pain in the butt."

"Anyway, I heard about you and Nao…nice. She's a good girl…but don't expect to get any from her anytime soon."

"WHA-?! I'm not in it for that…"

Jotaro ignored him. "Tonight's the last night to go out and have some fun. School starts Monday, so don't expect to go out late on Sunday…Dad'll make sure we're in bed at 11 at the latest."

"Man, not having a car must suck really bad right about now."

"I actually think I might be over it. I got a lot of insurance money from it, so I'm investing it, just like my dad said."

"WHAT?! Dude, that FD was your life!!"

Ichiro ignored him. "And I want to prove to him, no matter how much of an asshole he is, that I can survive on my own, without his cash. He's probably sitting by the phone right now, waiting for me to come 'crawling back to him'."

"Ichiro, it's been almost a month. I mean, I know what you're saying, but he _is _your dad. Family is family, after all."

"Hey, I'm always in the way anyway."

"But what about school?"

"What about it? I'll just ride home in the R32."

"I think you're missing the point…"

"I think it's a battle for both of us…whoever calls first loses. And I'm sure not going to lose to that mother-"

"Jotaro, Ichiro, breakfast!"

"So, are you coming out with me in the '32?" Jotaro asked as they walked out.

"Nah. Got a date with Nao."

"Really. Well, good luck with her…she hasn't ever had a serious boyfriend before, so you'll be a first."

"Yeah, I know, I know."

"How about after this? Doing anything?"

"Yeah, I'll be out with Nao all day, if that's what you're asking. What's Shinya doing?"

"Kaoru."

"Still?"

They knelt down at the table. "Yeah, well it's the only action he can get. He's gonna keep it…even if her ex-boyfriend jacked my FD and almost killed him."

"Well, then again, Shinya is crazier than I am…"

"Yeah, that's true…"


	9. A Revelation

Jotaro's GT-R flew down the Shinkanjou Expressway as he dueled with a yellow JZA80 Supra.

_School tomorrow, _Jotaro thought. _Man, does that SUCK! I can't believe the damn summer's over already. Not to mention I can't find that GTO anywhere…_

The two cars took a long corner and the R32 screamed ahead out of the bend, leaving the yellow Toyota far behind.

_Well, that was easy._

Jotaro pulled off the on-ramp onto the longest stretch of straight road on the Shinkanjou…four lanes wide with a huge shoulder area. His R32 had screamed up to 270 here, before Jotaro had gotten scared and shut down.

He throttled back as the Supra was gone in his rearview.

_I'm supposed to be having fun. But even kicking sand in that guy's face isn't making me feel any better._

A pair of headlights flashed in his rearview mirror, startling Jotaro into readiness.

"What kind of car…"

He shifted down and the battle was on!

"Well, sucker, you picked the wrong man to battle with! Sasaki Jotaro, one of the fastest on Shinkanjou!"

He was pushed back into his seat as his GT-R's six cylinders fired faster and faster until he grabbed the next gear and the process started over yet again.

The car behind had fallen back, thanks to the awesome power of ATTESA-ETS.

"Ha! Think you can catch me! This is 500 PS, kid!"

The GT-R blew by 150 km/h with ease, but there was a sudden roar behind, and white smoke blew everywhere as the car's tires lit up with ease.

"WHAT?!"

The mystery car's rear tires somehow grabbed a hold on the road, and before he knew it, they were even.

"How is he doing this!?"

Jotaro watched in awe as the car pulled easily away, roaring like a tiger in full chase!

"I can't catch it…"

Jotaro slammed his hand down on the steering wheel.

"I can't win around here, can I!?"

The car was nowhere in sight.

The next morning, Jotaro slept very late. Ichiro watched him wake up and was not pleased by what he saw…Jotaro was looking extremely depressed, almost on the verge of tears.

Ichiro felt so bad for his friend, he felt obliged to say something.

"Hey man…I'm sorry."

"What!? Did you just say _I'm SORRY_?!"

_Shouldn't have said that…_

"I said, I'm, err, starving. It's almost 12. You wanna go grab something to eat? My treat."

"I really don't feel like eating right now."

"If you insist. Can I borrow the R?"

"Sure," Jotaro said, flashing a dry smile. "Wreck it if you want."

_Ouch. REALLY depressed._

"Jotaro, I'm not even going to ask."

As he walked to the garage for the R32, he called Shinya…telling him that Jotaro needed him. Ichiro wasn't really a people person anyway.

The black Nissan arrived at Yashimoto Auto Works in half the time it had taken Ichiro to walk home from there last night. As he walked in, he noticed Gichin, one of the kids at his school. Gichin was about Shinya's height and build, but with black hair and glasses. He wasn't particularly smart, handsome, or well-off, but most guys flocked to him because of his incredible knowledge about all things with wheels. His mechanical skills were on par with most of the full-time workers.

"Hey, Ichiro. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about my Camaro."

"Now?" the mechanic asked. "I'm kinda busy right now…after all, someone needs to run this counter."

"Don't worry about it. Tell them a customer came by asking about a service and no one was around."

Gichin seemed satisfied by this and led Ichiro to the rear of the garage, past countless cars, ranging from an aging Mitsubishi Mirage to a rare Toyota Verossa sedan.

Still looking out of place, the Camaro finally appeared at the rear of the large shop. Ichiro produced a key fob and opened the door, popping the hood.

"It's not the car I need to know about…it's the engine."

Gichin lifted up the hood and looked inside.

He did a double take and his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"How…what the…"

He examined the engine closely and then shut the hood.

"What you have here is a 5.9 liter American racing engine…straight from under the hood of a NASCAR stocker!!"

"…I'm judging from your blank expression that you have absolutely no clue to what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, that's about right," Ichiro replied, scratching his head.

"NASCAR is a very popular racing series in the United States," Gichin explained. "They race mostly on large oval tracks, like the Super Speedway at Twin Ring Motegi, though they did come out to Suzuka's east course a few times."

"They can sometimes reach 320 KPH, but their engines are often restricted because of the dangers of running at speeds like that with 43 cars on the track. Even so, these engines can make a good 800 PS in their highest form."

He paused to let this sink in.

"Of course, unrestricted, these can easily put out well above 1000 PS, not to even mention torque."

Ichiro's eyes now looked like Gichin's a few seconds ago and his mouth dropped open.

"But, there's no way to tell if it's restricted or not without taking it apart. And if it's a Busch series engine, it may be restricted to 700 PS, which is still more than enough for grandma's grocery trips."

Gichin's expression turned serious once again. "Have you filled the tank since you bought it?"

"Not once. It was at about half a tank when I bought it and I haven't driven it that much."

"Put in nothing less than premium," Gichin said. "This engine is made for high-octane racing fuel. In fact, if you're aiming for full performance, you should buy some. It's pricey, but it'll keep the engine healthy and keep your power levels up."

"Now, I don't know where you got this car, and frankly, I don't want to, but driving on the street with this sucker is out of the question. You'll get pulled over in a heartbeat. It has the original unmuffled exhausts, coming out right under the passengers' side door, in America, that's the drivers' side. I'm surprised that the driver, obviously American, got this changed to right-hand drive."

"So, have you got any…errands to do, Ichiro?"

"Well, I'm pretty hungry. Why do you ask?"

"I'm going to check this car out, see what's up with the suspension setup, brakes, et cetera. Believe me, if this car is half as good as I think it is…well…the guy that blew Jotaro away is easy prey."

Ichiro nodded a silent thanks and walked off to the R32.

Half an hour later, the R32 pulled back into the garage, but this time Gichin was waiting for him.

"C'mon back with me. Now _I've _gotta talk to you about the Camaro."

The car was up on a lift. Gichin lowered the car slowly until it was firmly on the ground, eyes wide with wonder.

"This car is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"That good?"

"That good and _more_. The car's suspension setup is straight off an IROC Camaro race car, another division of NASCAR, where they race in Camaros and its sister car, the Firebird. It's been set up almost perfectly, but the car is tuned so stiffly that hitting a bump can set it out of control. The brakes, IROC material as well, so you'll never have trouble stopping, no brake fade either. The engine is perfectly monitored in this interior, too. Look at all these gauges. There's no chance of having a breakdown in this sucker. But it does have a few problem areas I noticed."

"One," Gichin continued, "the tires and rims. Have you raced this before?"

"Yeah, against Jotaro's R32," Ichiro said nonchalantly. "I won, not that it matters."

"I guess you're lucky," Gichin said. "These tires aren't going to be able to handle half the horsepower this sucker's probably putting out. These rims are also crap…these aren't going to last."

"Two, your transmission…"

"What's wrong with it? It's a brand-spanking new six-speed Tremec."

"That's exactly the problem. This engine is best suited to a four-speed. That's what it's made for. It's going to strain at the fifth or sixth ratios."

"Third…the exterior. This thing looks like a pile of crap! If you're going to drive a car with an 800 PS engine, then at least make it look good!"

Before Ichiro could even ask the question, Gichin jumped in again. "I couldn't get you the parts if I tried. But, I met this American at the Auto Salon last year, said his name was Kenneth. This guy was one hell of a racer, said that he owned a speed shop, E-Cubed Tuning, in Gunma Prefecture, but he was originally from the Southern United States. The guy said he owned a mean arsenal of cars…a Nismo 400R, a Ruf Porsche with a Formula One engine, a Mercedes 190 Evolution II, the family car, you name it, he's probably got it. Since he's American, too, the guy should have no trouble hooking up a racing four-speed, some high-performance tires, and some body parts. You should take a drive up sometime."

"Yeah, but the Camaro's definitely too loud to drive on public roads," Ichiro pointed out.

"There's a couple tow trucks out back," said Gichin. "Now, I'm looking the other way, so get out while you can."

"Thanks, Gichin. You're a real pal."

"Yeah, well, tell that to my boss…"


	10. Kenneth's World

Kenneth (thanks SouthSideSlider) is introduced here. Also, here is a profile for one of my main characters.

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**Nakamura Ichiro**

**Age:** 17 years ** Height:** 6 feet, 2 inches ** Weight: **140 lbs.

**Car:** 1989 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z (NASCAR engine swap)

Likes include his Camaro, racing, and his girlfriend, Nao.

Dislikes include his father, touge racing, and all-wheel drive cars.

Specialty: Controlling his Camaro at over 300 KM/H (186 MPH)

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A few hours later, Ichiro finally found the E-Cubed Tuning Shop near the base of Mount Haruna.

_An old fire station…well, not too bad of a choice for a tuning shop._

He stopped the flatbed in front of the shop and got out, deciding to take the time to lower the Camaro later. The garage door was wide open, but no one was in sight.

"Hello?" he called, his voice echoing around everywhere. To his left sat a Datsun 280Z. Next to it sat an old Porsche 914.

_Hey, you don't see too many of those around, _Ichiro thought to himself as he admired the strict two-seater. _Kinda ugly, though, sitting next to that 280._

He then noticed what looked like the nose of an R32 GT-R. Thinking of his friend Jotaro with a pang of guilt, he walked over to it.

"What the!?"

The nose was attached to the body of a Nissan 180SX, despite the obvious width differences between the two cars.

"I see you've found my newest creation."

Ichiro turned to see an older man, but despite his slight age difference, still retained the look of a young _hashiriya_.

"Yeah, it's a beau…well, it's _different._"

"Well, I wouldn't have it any other way," the man said, offering his hand for Ichiro to shake. "I'm Kenneth Ethridge."

Ichiro found that Kenneth's grip was very firm. "Nakamura Ichiro. I was sent here by Gichin from Yashimoto Auto Works in Tokyo. He says you two met at Tokyo Auto Salon a year or so back."

"Yeah, the kid knew almost as much about my show car as I did without even touching it. So that means you're from Tokyo, right? What brings you all the way to Gunma?"

"Gichin told me you could hook me up with some parts for my car."

"You couldn't find them in Tokyo? I mean, that's _the _place for tuning parts."

"It's not a common car around here. And the engine is especially rare."

He followed Ichiro outside to the waiting flatbed truck.

"Ah, a third-generation Camaro. It's been a while since I've seen one of those."

"Yeah, well, wait until you see this engine."

The two unloaded the American sports coupe from the flatbed and Kenneth opened the hood.

Instead of the stunned expression Gichin's face had taken earlier that day, Kenneth hardly batted an eyebrow. He seemed completely oblivious to the 800+PS powerplant sitting right before his eyes.

"Wow…you're as extreme as Gichin said you were."

"Yeah, well, I've dealt with some pretty powerful cars in my lifetime."

"The car is pretty much an IROC car underneath, at least, that's what Gichin said," Ichiro told Kenneth. "The engine is straight outta NASCAR, but we're not sure whether it's restricted or not."

"Haven't taken it apart yet?"

"I just got it."

Kenneth chuckled. "Well, if the car's half as good you say it is, you shouldn't be here."

"It needs new tires, racing tires, and probably a new set of rims would be nice. And it's running a six-speed transmission…Gichin told me it needs a four…straight out of a NASCAR. Oh, and the body needs a new body kit."

"I can get you the new tires and rims in a heartbeat, but the four-speed will be pricey and hard to find. I can make you a custom body kit out of carbon…provided you've got cash."

"I've got enough. Just call when you get the parts in."

"The tires and rims should be in quick. I can custom-fab the body kit, maybe make you a carbon hood, but, like I said, it won't be cheap."

"And the transmission?"

"I can definitely find the four-speed. But I can't guarantee time or price."

"Sounds good."

"I'll call Yashimoto when I can get your stuff. Come with me and we can design your body kit…also, pick out some rims."

"Damn, I've only been here five minutes and I already love this shop," Ichiro said.


	11. Back To School

School began a lot earlier than the guys thought. Ichiro and Jotaro found themselves fighting to stay awake as the R32 fought the early morning traffic.

They pulled into the parking lot just as Shinya got out of his Levin, looking equally tired.

"Still got the bullet holes," Jotaro sighed as he shut the RB26DETT down and got out of the car.

The rest of the day was even more exhausting. Their classes dragged on and on.

Finally, lunchtime began and the three congregated together at a table with their other friends Hiroto, Masashi, and Takao, though Nao came over and sat with Ichiro halfway through the period.

"Yeah, I got an Integra Type R," Hiroto said, producing a key fob reading _Type R_.

"Yeah, right. What are you planning to do with that pile anyway?" Masashi had a red JZA70 Supra. "FF's are so slow!"

"Shut up, dude, rounding corners, my Type R would own your Supra."

"Whatever."

Takao looked over to Ichiro. "Still in the FD?"

"Nope. It got stolen."

"Man, that sucks," Hiroto said. "Anything new?"

"Nope."

"You, Jotaro?"

"Only an R32 GT-R, the fastest domestic car ever. 450 PS, AWD, I mean, the car is bad."

"Done any _Wangan _running?"

"Nah, I value skill in corners over pure power. Anyone can push the pedal all the way down, but throw corners into the mix and now you're talking. I mean, the C1 and Shinkanjou are calling to me, man!"

"Shinya has a Levin, he's a good downhill driver, even though his car has next to no power."

"Hey, shut up, I have a 3S-GTE underneath that hood."

"_Wangan _racing isn't my thing anyway," Jotaro continued. "Over 450-500 PS, the car isn't a daily driver anymore and I need this car. But, wow, some of the cars out there…I got blown away by this car that was way unfamiliar. I couldn't tell what it was, but the guy was burning rubber even at 250 kilos."

Ichiro turned away from the others, towards Nao.

"It was loud, too. Sounded foreign, definitely a high-displacement engine, unmuffled. But it looked like a pile of crap, fading paint, dents and scratches in the body, ugly stock rims."

Ichiro fought the urge to shut Jotaro up.

"I swear, it was angular, looked kinda like a Starion, but with open headlights. It was definitely a bit bigger than a Starion too, maybe the size of your Supra, Masashi. It had lights on the back like a Starion's, but it was definitely wider, probably lower."

"You should go ask Gichin," Takao suggested.

"No!" Ichiro cried out.

Everyone at the table stared at him, and the atmosphere slowly quieted.

"I mean, I think I'm in his next class. I'll talk to him for you. He's a busy guy."

"Ichiro, you're scaring me," Masashi said.

Ichiro found Gichin after his next class and pulled him aside.

"Hey, Gichin, about my Camaro…"

"What?"

"Well, I didn't tell Jotaro or Shinya about it. Frankly, I don't want them to know."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's mostly the fact that a 'mysterious racer' in a 'mysterious car' sends chills up my spine. But I don't want them to know I have a car with 800 PS on tap, because they'll tell me, 'It's not safe!', 'Not after what you did to the FD!', and on and on."

"Ah."

"Yeah, so, if Jotaro asks, pretend to think about it, then tell him it's a Camaro."

"And, Gichin, tell no one else about this."

"Whatever, man."

_That dude is so weird lately._


	12. Tune Up

Alright, thanks to SouthSideSlider, I realized Tune Up and Back To School were the same document. ..Duh, on my part. For those of you thinking 'WTF's going on?!', here's what really happened.

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Ichiro found that Thursday was taking forever to come. That was the day his ride was going to be ready, sans transmission, for the open road and full-out speed racing.

Shinya and Jotaro were too tired to race when they returned home that day, and the same went for Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

In fact, Jotaro and Ichiro were both in bed by ten each night.

"Finally!"

Ichiro burst out of the doors, followed by Nao, Jotaro, and Shinya.

"What are you yelling about?"

Shinya walked past to his Levin with a sour snarl. "We've still got two days of school until the weekend."

"Yeah, anyway, you've been acting mucho weird lately, like there's something big on your mind," Jotaro said as they got into the black R32.

He followed the black Levin out of the parking lot.

"And you've been out by yourself a lot lately, and Nao says you've only been out with her twice since last month."

"Stop looking into it so much," Ichiro said, looking out the window at a passing Mercedes so Jotaro couldn't see his face turning red. "It's nothing. Just drop it."

"Whatever, man." Jotaro looked back at the road and then turned on the radio to his favorite J-Pop station. "Just looking out for my best friend."

Jotaro turned onto the road that led to the apartment. "Oh, and your dad still hasn't called. Don't you think you should probably do something about that?"

"Nah. He's just a rich old bastard. If he calls, well, the better for me. If not, well, he doesn't. I don't really care."

Jotaro pulled into the garage next to his father's Mark II and the two friends walked back to the apartment, so close, but so far away.

"You wanna play some GT?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Jotaro flipped on the PS3, but Ichiro looked at the clock.

"Maybe later. I gotta go do something."

"What!? Come on, man. Again?"

"Look, I'll be back around 6."

The door slid open, then closed again as Ichiro found his way out of the house.

The white Isuzu flatbed rolled to a stop in front of the old firehouse and its tall driver got out, feet touching the ground even from the cabin. Again, the large garage doors were opened wide for all to see.

This time, Kenneth was leaning under the 280Z's hood alongside a woman about the same age.

"I swear, Kenneth, something's wrong…"

The owner of E-Cubed stood up and closed the long hood. "It looks fine, Salina. If you want me to take it for a spin down Mount Haruna…"

Kenneth looked over to see an amazed Ichiro walking around his Ruf BTR.

"Hey, watch the machinery."

Ichiro looked up and smiled at the older man. "So, how much power does this thing put out?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kenneth said, walking up past the yellow Nismo 400R. "Besides, it doesn't matter anyway…I can't drive the damn thing."

"Why not?"

"Salina…" he pointed to the woman, who was still looking worriedly at the white 280Z, "…won't let me drive it. It almost killed me on more than one occasion."

"There's a lot of cars in this garage," Ichiro said, changing the subject abruptly, "but I can't find the Camaro."

"I just finished the paint," Kenneth said. "It's in the back. I'll roll it out for you."

Within seconds, there was a roar of the racing engine, echoing painfully around the garage. Salina whimpered and held her ears.

At first, he didn't recognize the angular red nose peeking out at him, but then he saw the shining alloy rims he'd ordered and the new racing tires, both of them straight from the United States.

The car pulled up to Ichiro, leaning on the 'Sky-Eighty' he'd seen before, and Kenneth killed the engine and got out of the American muscle coupe.

"Well, the dynamometer said you'd been running 736 PS the night after you brought it in," Kenneth elaborated, running his hand down the newly-painted hood, feeling the texture of the carbon fiber body piece. "Obviously, it was restricted, but a little bit of carburetor tuning pushed it all the way up to 794, so you'll be pretty well off if you're planning on running it on the _Wangan_."

Kenneth could clearly see Ichiro's crestfallen face, so he patted him on the shoulder. "It's not all about power, son. Unrestricted, this engine could very easily blow out…and where would that leave you? An engine like this, even restricted to 800 PS, can still blow any forced-induction car off of the road because of its amazing response. Your only problem would normally be the car's weight, but it's been lightened to the point of obsession by the car's previous owner."

"In fact…" Kenneth continued, "…this car has been set up to a point of perfection by its owner. I don't know if Gichin told you this…but…this car could easily run side-by-side with a full-competition NASCAR."

Kenneth held out the keys to the Camaro. "She's all yours. Keep the rubber side down."

Before Ichiro could get in, Kenneth held out something. "You'll need these if you want to live out your life with hearing."

Ichiro took the earplugs. "Thanks, Kenneth."


	13. Devil's Camaro Unveiled

Tsukamoto's clock clicked to 12:00 AM as the dark green GTO pulled onto the _Wangan _expressway.

_He said he'd be right here,_ the man thought, rubbing his combed-back black hair. _Where is he?_

The Mitsubishi pulled out of the tunnel as Tsukamoto 'rubber-necked' for his opponent.

_Damn!! I came all the way out here…_

Tsukamoto pounded his hand down on his steering wheel.

_Fujiwara Manabu, I'm never going to forgive you for this!!_

He pulled the dark green AWD off to the wide shoulder, letting the cars pass him as he waited.

_Lookit this marker…this is exactly where he should be. Where is the b stard?!_

Tsukamoto picked up his drink from the cupholder and took a sip as the clock ticked on. Finally satisfied that his quarry wasn't going to appear as the clock shone its green light at quarter after 12.

Rolling his eyes, the 6G72 roared into life and Tsukamoto pressed down on the heavy clutch, engaging the first gear.

There was absolutely no traffic as the GTO pulled onto the wide, three-lane freeway, but as he'd waited, a slight fog had come down over the roadway, giving the late-night freeway road a very eerie look.

Tsukamoto floored the engine and the silence of the night air was broken as the dual exhaust pipes thundered with the 3.0 liter turbo's fury. Tsukamoto switched on his fog lights…he'd need them tonight.

As he rounded the left curve, a set of headlights appeared behind him, along with a loud, bellowing exhaust note that even he could hear over the roar of his Mitsubishi.

_That's one loud car, _Tsukamoto thought as he took his right foot off the metal gas pedal. _Let's see what it is._

It was definitely not using a muffler, at least not one Tsukamoto knew of, but aside from that, he also couldn't distinguish what the car was, nor its engine.

_Definitely __**not**__ an engine I'm familiar with. _ Tsukamoto looked harder as the car came up on him. _ I gotta say, it's not sounding anything like a turbo four or six. And what is it, anyway? Lights look like a Z31…but this damn fog is screwing me up._

The mysterious car drew nearer to the GTO's rear bumper.

_Lights?_

The headlights flickered.

"Well, Mr. Mystery Car…" Tsukamoto grinned, shifting down. "…you just went in over your head. Pity I won't find out what kind of car you're driving!"

Tsukamoto braced himself as the AWD kicked in and threw him back into his bucket seat as his hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned ghost white.

He pushed in the heavy clutch with his left foot, and his left hand shifted him into third as the momentary lack of acceleration threw him forward, then back into the seat.

_Hrmm…looks like Mr. Mystery Car is not an AWD…_

Tsukamoto focused back on the road ahead, increasingly covered in eerie fog. Not a car was in sight, not even the ever-common trucks.

Chills ran down Tsukamoto's spine. _This is weird…not right. There's no one here…it's almost as if…I'm racing the devil himself!!!_

He shuddered involuntarily and looked back in the rearview mirror.

_What the-?!_

The mystery car was roaring up behind him, engine bellowing into the night with a roar that shamed the 6G72's throaty growl.

Tsukamoto roared into the tunnel, shifting up into fifth to rid himself of the car, but it was no use.

The car behind him was low and wide with a red paint job, with a vented hood and an angular front air dam, looking custom. It had two headlights, divided into two.

_NO!_

Tsukamoto was amazed as the mysterious car smoothly glided into the next lane as if skiing on ice.

_RRRR!!!_

Tsukamoto's hands were shaking now. His 6G72 screaming, he shifted into sixth, pressing 290 kilometers.

_Man…what is that car made of!?_

Both cars roared out of the tunnel, neck-to-neck, dead-even, into the fog of the night, headlights shining through the ever-thickening fog covering the road.

_I don't care __**what **__kind of car you have…you're NOT going to beat me!!!_

Tsukamoto's whole body broke out in a cold sweat as his speedometer crested the 300 km/h mark, but the needle refused to go any further.

But the incredible mystery car just picked up its speed, easily as if it was driving to the store, and, massive engine bellowing through the night, pulled back in front of the GTO.

_No!! This can't be happening!!!_

Tsukamoto's headlights briefly shone on a logo reading _Camaro_, underneath the rear lip spoiler, then his eyes rested to stare at the number plate.

_What?! How…holy…_

The Camaro driver pushed his foot down to the floor and the exhaust pipes shot fire from under the car, then the rear wheels powered the American muscle coupe far, far away from the King of Shinkanjou and his undefeatable GTO, until its wide taillights were lost into the thick fog enveloping the roadway.

_No. NO!!!_

Tsukamoto's heart was pounding fit to burst as he powered down, finally coming to a rest on the shoulder for the second time that night.

_My winning streak…_

Tsukamoto got out, slamming the door shut, even though his powerful car was still running, headlights reflecting off the fog.

_His number plate was 6-66…_

He put his head into his hands and shook it.

_That's not any Camaro. That's his own…Satan's Camaro!!!_


	14. New Challengers for the Camaro

"Ichiro, dude, do you ever sleep?"

Shinya slapped his tall friend heavily on the shoulder, almost knocking him over into his locker.

"Yeah…I just had a late night last night."

Jotaro walked next to his friends, opening his locker up.

"Late night? I went to bed at half past eleven. You weren't back by midnight, dude. Where the hell were you?"

Ichiro wasn't paying attention at all as he opened his locker and grabbed a few books.

"Yo! Earth to Ichiro!"

Ichiro tossed them into his backpack. "Nothing's going on, Jotaro." He shut his locker door. "Drop it…it's nothing. I mean, I'm not out smoking crack all night, if that's what you're thinking."

The three journeyed out into the main hall, walking to their first class.

Suenaga Miki, one of Shinya's friends, was leaning against the wall, talking excitedly with a group of guys about something. When Suenaga spotted the trio, he hailed them over as if the world was about to end.

"Dude, word's all over the street. The GTO that defeated you, Jotaro, got sand kicked in its face last night. On the _Wangan_."

"Who was it this time?"

Ichiro tried to look surprised like the others. "This car called a Camaro."

"A what?"

"It's an import," another one of the men said. Ichiro recognized him as the younger brother of Sakamoto Eichi. "But get this. Tsukamoto swears it was more than just a fast car. He said it was evil…Satan's own Camaro. He said, even at midnight, the road was completely clear. Nothing around. Period. And there was a fog, out of nowhere, soon as the car appeared behind."

Ichiro almost choked with laughter, but quickly began to cough heavily.

"Sure you're not smoking crack, man?" Shinya said, patting him on the back.

"Nah, I'm fine."

"It's definitely weird, though…the car blew him away at 290 kilos. He said it was loud, too…louder than his car. And definitely not a turbo four or six…it was probably an eight-cylinder, but how it was so loud or fast beats me."

The bell rang. "Shoot, guys, if Hagiwara catches us late, we're up the creek," Shinya called out as the trio ran towards the door at the hall's end. "See you at lunch!"

As they reached the classroom, Jotaro looked towards a familiar face not from their grade. "Hey…isn't that Asakura Akio? I thought he graduated last year."

"Didn't you hear?" Ichiro asked as they rushed inside, dumping their bags by the sides of their desks. "He skipped too many times. Had to repeat the grade."

"No kidding…"

Super Autobacs, Tokyo.

Two greasy-looking men walked down the isle side-by-side, refusing to move for anyone in their way.

One had blonde, very straight, hair which hung down to the back of his neck. The sides and front were cut shorter, but still hung over his forehead. He held a cocky, arrogant look in his narrow eyes as he exited the store and headed towards the parking lot.

The other looked exactly like the first. But instead of blonde locks, he had raven-black hair that was cut in almost the same style. He was very slightly shorter than the other and was the quieter and less egotistical of the two.

The first pulled out some car keys as he walked to the lot's rear, stepping in a wad of gum.

"Arrgh! My new shoes!!"

He slammed his fist into a Honda Integra, setting off its alarm.

"Chill, bro," the second said as he stopped at a certain car and leaned on it while his brother walked past it and stopped at another like it.

"Tsukamoto is weak…he gets what he deserves."

"Still…that sucker was putting out buckets of torque."

"In a GTO? It's like asking to have your ass handed back to you on a silver platter. Sure, you've got a full AWD system and a decent turbo motor. But, c'mon, it's like asking a fat girl to run track. Just not meant for it."

"I hear you, bro," the black-haired twin said.

"But, seriously, leave it up to Tsukamoto to call it 'Satan's Camaro'. Freaking idiot."

The second one began a high-pitched imitation of Tsukamoto. "The fog came down. There's no cars around, I'm _scared_. Pathetic."

"After all, it happens all the time. 1000 yen says that the other lane was packed full of traffic."

"And the plate was just a coincidence," he finished. "Though I wish I could have it for my ride."

He chuckled.

"So, Hitoshi, finished tuning your NSX? Because tonight, 'Satan's Camaro' is going down hard! We're going to show the world what a retard Tsukamoto really is."

Two new Honda NSXs, one yellow, one black, exploded into life with a roar that made birds fly up from the nearby trees in alarm.

"Yoshinaga twins…the fastest on _Wangan_!!"


	15. The Twin NSX Challenge

The rain pattered down from the heavens, slowly at first, but by the end of the school day, a full-fledged downpour was on Tokyo's hands.

Ichiro covered Nao with his backpack as the trio ran out to Jotaro's R32. Ichiro pulled the seat forward and Nao jumped inside, still bone-dry, while Ichiro, wetter than a drowned rat, got inside slowly.

"Look at you Ichiro," Nao giggled as Jotaro gunned the engine to beat the traffic. She toyed with his wringing-wet hair. "You've got more water than Nagashima Spaland."

Even Jotaro (dry), couldn't resist a laugh at his friend's predicament.

"Work tonight," Nao said, and all three sighed in unison as the rain continued to pour down outside the closed windows of the Skyline GT-R.

"Hey…" Ichiro said as they passed an S15 Silvia. "We have a half-day tomorrow. Wanna hit up the C1 tonight?"

"Nah. I'm not a big fan of driving in the wet."

"C'mon, you're in an AWD tank. What could go wrong?"

"Well, for one, Lancer Evolutions and STis," Jotaro said as the R32 pulled up in front of Nao's apartment.

"That's a pile of crap and you know it is, Jotaro."

"But seriously, who's going to be cruising the C1 on a night like this?"

Ichiro kissed his girlfriend goodbye as she rushed into her house, trying to beat the rain. She waved to him from inside the door as the R32 pulled away.

Ichiro was daydreaming about his Camaro when his daydream suddenly became a living nightmare. Jotaro pulled the R32 into Yashimoto.

_Crap…I gotta hide the Camaro…Now!!!_

"Hey, Jotaro. What are we doing?"

"Picking up Dad's Mark II. Don't you remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"You're acting really weird today, Ichiro."

"Hey, uhh…I'm just gonna go check out some of these cars."

"Go for it."

Ichiro walked back into the shop, looking for his favorite mechanic. Finally spotting Gichin underneath a Mazda Familia, he called him aside.

"Any way I can get a tarp?"

"For what?"

"I don't want racers coming in here and trashing my car."

"I dunno, having one of the fastest cars on the _Wangan _would definitely improve business here…"

"…just kidding," he finished, noting Ichiro's facial color gradually turning redder and redder. "Yeah, I think Boss had one back here. It's ripped up a bit but it should do the job."

Gichin came back holding a large faded brown tarp. "Here we go…"

He threw the tarp over the Camaro, and satisfied with the positioning, pulled out a marker and wrote PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH on it.

"You should get a bonus."

"Yeah, well, I'm just thanking my lucky stars that Boss hasn't found out about that flatbed excursion."

As the two walked back towards the front, Gichin stopped dead and groaned.

"Here comes trouble."

A pair of twins, one blonde, the other with black hair, stood in front of two Honda NSXs, one yellow, one black.

The blonde walked aggressively up to the counter and slammed on the bell.

"Sir?"

"Is the part for the NSX in yet!?"

The worker, flustered and trying to keep cool, answered, "I think so, let me check."

"Goddamn retards," he said with a roll of his eyes. He looked over to Ichiro, then the R32 GT-R. "Jay Chou, that your '32?"

"No, my friend's."

"Hmmph. Ever hear of the 'Satan's Camaro'?"

Ichiro almost laughed. "Yeah, once or twice."

"Tonight, that pile of crap is going down…hard. Our NSXs are the _real _fastest cars out on the _Wangan._"

"Yeah, but look at the weather. You really think he'll come out like this? I mean, he _is _driving an FR."

"Rumor has it he'll come out in any weather…rain, snow, sleet, hail. This racer is hardcore enough to tackle a little water."


	16. Mental Block

Okay, those faithful readers out there are probably wondering "Why the hell hasn't this joker updated for about 25 years now? What the F's the problem!?" Well, people, my story writing has officially hit a mental block the size of Mount Everest. I got in a new chapter, but I can't seem to write anything new. That and school. Okay, new chapter coming right up after this. Thanks for your support, or something like that. Heh.


	17. Hiroshi's Miscalculation

Waiting. Even with the HID lights of his twin brother's NSX shining through Hiroshi's long rear window, the loneliness was undeniable.

Hiroshi checked his cell phone for the millionth time, but, as the 999,999 times before, there were no missed calls, or anything that wasn't there the minute before aside from the fact that the phone was now down to one bar of battery life.

The clock on his cell gave a reading of 12…well, more like quarter after 12. The two NSXs had been waiting at roadside Haneda for what felt like hours, but really was more akin to 25 minutes.

Occasionally, a racing car would go past and the twins would look up to see a car that was not a Camaro go past.

_I'll give him until 12:30. Tsukamoto found him right about now…so if he doesn't show by half past, then he's probably not coming._

The rains had stopped a good half hour ago, but the road's surface was still very slick from the downpour.

Hitoshi, in his black NSX, was playing a game of Tetris on his iPod as he waited for his brother's command. Though Hiroshi and Hitoshi were equals as twins, Hiroshi, the more aggressive of the two, was naturally the leader, and Hitoshi was fine with that. Sometimes, though, he doubted he was even related to the hot-headed blonde sitting directly ahead of him. After all, they were, all in all, different as night and day. Other times, they shared a bond only twins share, sometimes even being able to read each others' minds, which was especially strong during the race. This made them very difficult opponents to beat. In fact, when fully in the zone, the Yoshinaga twins were virtually unstoppable.

Hitoshi could hear the noise of the car's engine before he saw its headlights coming out of the tunnel. The car's engine note was a low growl, definitely unmuffled. And it definitely wasn't a small-displacement turbo…it was undoubtedly an American V8, made for low-end torque. In fact, there was no car on the _Wangan _expressway with more torque and pickup than Ichiro's Iroc-Z!

At the same exact second, the two NSXs roared into life and both pulled out onto the roadway as the red Camaro passed them.

Both cars lined up behind…and both flashed their headlights.

Ichiro gunned his engine and the street battle began!

_Those two…those are the twins I talked to earlier today. They were serious about this battle…so I'm going to defeat them just to stick it in their smug faces!_

All three cars roared up the road, but the NSXs, lighter and better balanced, grabbed an initial lead, especially Hitoshi's black model.

These two NSXs suited their drivers' personalities perfectly. Just like their owners, they were almost identical on the outside. But under the hoods, they were as different as their drivers' personalities!

Hiroshi's yellow NSX was more powerful on paper, topping out in the neighborhood of 760 PS. But he'd chosen, as his aggressive personality suggested, a turbocharger to add power to his machine. Even with the VTEC system his car had, Hiroshi knew a turbo would add a quick and easy kick to his car. His car, therefore, would often experience brutal turbo lag but at high revs, the turbocharger would almost knock the car sideways with its sudden kick of horsepower.

Hitoshi, as his less-aggressive personality dictated, opted to NA tune his NSX. It had taken more time and much more money to build but still had less power and much less torque than his brother's yellow NSX. Even so, Hitoshi believed his was the better car. Again, high revs were his car's strong suit, but its pickup and response was much more linear than his brother's power-biased turbo. In the end, the all-motor car was the better, more controllable, and best-handling of the two, but at high speeds, Hiroshi's NSX could be a force to be reckoned with.

Hitoshi pulled out in front of the Camaro as easily as if he was going for groceries.

_I can't see anything!_

The rain cloud kicked up from behind the barreling NSX blocked out Ichiro's view as he tried to accelerate, but the VTEC mechanism of Hitoshi's NSX blocked him out.

There was a roar alongside and out of nowhere, the yellow NSX of Hiroshi screamed past and a blow-off valve shot into the air as Hiroshi grabbed his next gear.

Both NSXs hogged the lanes in front of Ichiro as his Camaro's rear tires began to hook up with the wet road.

In fact, Ichiro had never driven fast in the rain before. The sheer physics of accelerator control that was needed in a powerful car like his boggled his mind. But the NSXs were cool and he could hear Hitoshi carefully modulating his throttle pedal to keep his car in control.

_This is harder than I thought!_

Ichiro shifted into fourth, but this time, instead of flooring almost all the way, floored the engine only halfway. The tires still lost traction, but gradually depressing his throttle pedal gave the flying NSXs from gaining much more ground on him.

"Well, this guy is sticking with us," Hiroshi remarked as he carefully modulated his throttle pedal to keep control. He looked out his rearview mirror and could hardly see through the thick cloud of water that was spraying all over the Camaro from the NSXs' spinning rear wheels.

"Sorry, kid. But we've got a reputation to live up to! And my crew is counting on us to take you out. If we lose…Tamotsu and Hanzou will blow their gaskets…figuratively speaking, of course. I can't see either of those tricked-out machines breaking down."

"It kinda feels bad," Hitoshi said, swerving his black NSX so the Camaro could not pass, "but it's essential to our victory. With this rain cloud blocking his view…as well as the rears of our NSXs, he'll have to give in to us sooner or later…or crash and burn."

Hitoshi checked his mirror.

"That car…" he breathed.

"…is staying so close!" Hiroshi said open-mouthed.

"How is he doing it? He can't be able to see anything!"

_All I've got to do, _Ichiro thought to himself as the trio of cars roared into the tunnel, _is get between them…then, as far as I'm concerned, the race is over. We're already doing a good 270, 280 but I can't go any faster or risk an accident with their rear bumper._

_So here goes nothing!!_

Pushing hard on his throttle on the dry tunnel roadway, the Camaro began to sneak closer to the two cars' rear bumpers…and then swerved hard to the right!

As the two screamed to the right, Ichiro twisted his wheel hard to the left. As he expected, the two cars blocked him out yet again. But the damage was done.

The sudden drop of speed threw Hiroshi's engine out of whack. The turbo lagged and, despite all his efforts, Hiroshi found himself lagging behind his brother's NSX.

_No!_

Ichiro was smarter than most people gave him credit for. The swerving action not only made Hiroshi's turbocharger lag and slow him down, but the two cars could not stay within centimeters of each other while swerving all over the road. A gap had opened up between them…and Ichiro planned to use it!

Gunning his engine while he could as Hiroshi's turbo lagged, he showed the NSXs his nose.

_WHAT?!_

Ichiro had effectively stuck his foot in the door, keeping it wide open for him.

All three drivers knew well that any contact at this speed would spell disaster for all. Thanks to his easy, but genius move, Ichiro had made all counter-attacks without contact obsolete. The NSXs were now locked in a bloody speed battle…the last thing they'd wanted!

Hiroshi screamed curses as the Camaro slowly crept up…then drew even in the center lane between them. And then, the Camaro pulled slowly off into the distance ahead with ease.

Hiroshi and Hitoshi could do nothing about it…they had lost, fair and square!


	18. The United Tokio Alliance

"You hear? The 'Devil's Camaro' has another win under its belt."

"Who was it this time?"

"Only the Yoshinaga twins' NSXs. And word has it the driver's not only fast…he's smart too. He opened up a gap between the two cars that no one had even done before."

The school was buzzing with the news the next morning. Ichiro walked down the hall between Jotaro and Shinya, taller than both, but feeling more like he was on Jupiter than on Earth. Students left and right were complimenting the amazing speed and downright ability of this mystery driver.

"Man…that Camaro driver may just be the best thing that's happened to _Wangan_, like, ever," Shinya said as the trio strolled to his locker. "Outta nowhere, an old American muscle car shows up and starts smacking the hell outta these top-dog _Wangan _speed demons. Everything's in a state of chaos out there now…but it's damn good entertainment!"

"What I really like about this guy is that he's honest." Jotaro looked over at the other two. "Instead of some crazed Yakuza mobster inside a ratty R32, racing for the gang, he seems to come out there just as a person and their car…one in being, just for the thrill of 300 km/h racing down the freeway. If anything, I call it Buddha's Camaro, not the Devil's."

"What about you, Ichiro? You've been silent ever since this subject came up."

"I dunno…the guy seems to be alright. But I dunno, haven't been really interested lately. Can't say why."

The two sighed. "Nice job disappointing us there," Shinya said quietly. "We thank you for depressing us…once again."

The Yoshinagas stood shamefaced in front of Suzuki Tamotsu and Katsuoka Hanzou as they explained their plight.

"He…just forced in between us when my turbo started to lag and a gap had opened up. Then we knew we couldn't do anything. If we even tapped 'em, all three of us would be lying on gurneys in a morgue somewhere."

Tamotsu shrugged. "Maybe, Hiroshi, if you'd have been smart and gone with a NA spec tuning, you wouldn't be standing here right now. I mean, c'mon, how many times do you see a turbo VTEC at this level?"

Hanzou looked over at them. "Well, the _United Tokio Alliance _team is now a united failure thanks to your tuning, Hiroshi. Still, it happens…and a loss is a loss. No big deal about it."

"Planning to take out this car yourself, Hanzou?"

"Why not…if I can't destroy this car, then there's no point in doing it. But one thing you don't want to do is make our chairman angry…or make him come out of retirement. That car is a whirlpool of death when unleashed."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Hitoshi said. "You can take him down in your Supra, easy, Hanzou…and, well, if he gets the better of you, Tamotsu's ER34 should do the trick. After all…that purple machine is our ace in the hole."

Tamotsu let out a snort of derision. "The day I see that Supra be defeated is never going to come. My ER34, as it has since it was built, won't need to be taken onto the _Wangan_ a second time. I'm reserving my driving for only those at pro-level!"

Tamotsu turned his head to show a nasty scar which ran up from his shoulder. "My ace in the hole will stay where it is."

Suzuki Tamotsu and Katsuoka Hanzou were about the same height, but Tamotsu cut a much more impressive figure. He was, after all, one of the fastest drivers on _Wangan_. Hanzou was a bit shorter and about average weight, with short brown hair. Tamotsu was taller with long black hair and a little wider and with broader shoulders, and a nasty scar that wound all the way from his right shoulder and up his neck, finally ending where his black hair began on the right side of his head.

In fact, Tamotsu was one of the fastest drivers on the highway, but in the early 1990s, he and his blue R32 GT-R were _the _fastest around. Body kits like Hanzou's weren't even in manufacture yet, but the early RB26 was pushing almost 800 PS, sending the Calsonic Blue R32 up over the 300 km/h mark and handily destroying all opponents.

But a single race had changed all that.

Jeremy's team _Wangan Emperor _hadn't been formed yet, but the later team's second-in-command driver threw down the gauntlet against Tamotsu's undefeatable R32.

Tamotsu was winning the race, but this driver's Porsche screamed up from behind and tapped the R32's rear end at 280 KM/H.

Tamotsu was a master at car control, but even the slightest tap at that speed can throw all of the physics out of whack and both Tamotsu and his beloved R32 felt that as he spun out of control, rolling the car in mid-air until it thudded into the guardrail, a hopeless chunk of burning metal.

Tamotsu's life was saved by a trucker who'd witnessed the crash and called for help. She pulled his unconscious body from the contorted mess and waited for the ambulance.

Tamotsu eventually walked away from the wreck a very different individual almost two years later. He'd been in a coma for at least one of those and had ridden around in a wheelchair for 6 months afterwards. Even still, his face was slightly disfigured, much of his body scarred. His R32 destroyed, he decided to start his racing career anew but this time chose an ER34 GT-T instead of the traditional GT-R model.

And one night, a mysterious ER34 had challenged _Wangan Emperor's _number two driver…and by the time the battle was over, the driver's signature Porsche was totaled, the driver dead. The police fumbled the case, but underground, there was no question who was behind the crash.

Hanzou was at least five years younger than his older teammate Tamotsu but was slowly ascending the ranks of _Wangan_. He drove a purple JZA80 Supra with an outlandish-looking VeilSide body kit, but despite the looks he got from other drivers and its price tag, Hanzou would stop at nothing to win a race and his skills were almost on par with Tamotsu's. He'd pushed his 2JZ-GTE to over 750 PS, using a massive single HKS turbo and a large-diameter exhaust. The car had incredible low-end torque figures for a car with a 3.0 liter engine.

"Coming, Tamotsu?"

"Nah. I have to go see the man behind the scenes."

"Oooh, good luck with that."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Hanzou waved off as the powerful Toyota muscle car roared off slowly onto the road and pulled away around a corner, engine note still echoing down to the garage where they had waited.

Walking through the garage, he passed by his ER34, gleaming after the hefty wash job he'd given it a few days back, and passed a car covered by a blue tarp. Even with the covering, Tamotsu could easily recognize the machine underneath. It was wide, but incredibly low with a long hood and hatchback, a spoiler poking up through the tarp.

He continued walking past the twin NSXs, until he reached the back. He knocked.

"Come in."

Tamotsu opened the door, blessing the blast of cool air-conditioned air that hit him. He'd never been in the boss's office before, and he noticed the deep, red-purple carpets that were very out-of-place in a garage.

The chair was turned away from him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yeah," the man replied. "Grab a chair and pull up."

Tamotsu pulled up one and sat down, waiting for his boss's words…whether they were angry or happy, he didn't know.

The man still refused to turn his chair around. "Any word from the Shinkanjou, C1, or Yokohama routes?" he asked.

"No," Tamotsu said to the best of his knowledge. "At least, the R32 hasn't been out since Tsukamoto blew those wheels off the road. It's possible that he's a school kid…but acing techniques like that against Eichi's Supra rules that out."

The man behind the chair withdrew a cigar from the drawer and lit it. "That's probably the case…if so, he may be out tonight, so tell our best drivers to get on the road."

"I'll phone Kyamoto and Miura."

"Good…good…" the boss said, as if he was thinking about something else. "Oh…and I heard about the Yoshinagas' defeat. I also want you to know…that you should finish the car once and for all."

"What?!"

"You heard me."

"But Hanzou…"

"Hanzou's good, there's no denying it. But his confidence may be his undoing. The car is an amazing opponent. The move he pulled against the Yoshinagas last night, for one. He knew that Hiroshi was running a single turbo just by racing against it so he used the only way he could to make it lag. Then he wedged in, breaking their formation…and their rhythm. Obviously, the car is very powerful…low-end torque figures are probably through the roof, but Hanzou won't realize that."

"The brothers told me the car lagged at the beginning. How could it have torque figures? It sounds more like a single turbo to me."

The man sighed. "Smart, Tamotsu, but you've got to think outside the box. The car has a large-displacement, V8 engine, almost double the size of the engines in Hanzou's Supra or Tsukamoto's GTO."

"My God! 6 liters?!"

"Rumor has it…it's an engine out of an American NASCAR."

"Are you serious?!"

"Dead," the boss said. "When you have connections like me, you hear about these things."

"So why the lag?"

"It's obvious, really. With torque like that, traction is hard to come by…even you know that, Tamotsu. Of course the Camaro is front-engine, rear-wheel drive. It was raining."

"Yeah, traction is pretty rough on an FR, especially in the rain."

"Not only that," the boss said, "but Hiroshi's massive ego and bad temper are no secret. Obviously, this guy is smart. He waited to get Hiroshi overconfident…lull him into a false sense of security where he would make stupid mistakes. Then he could strike at the right time!"

"Incredible…" Tamotsu breathed.

"But what do I know…I'm just a random guy. So go ahead…let Hanzou run it."

"See you around, Tamotsu."


	19. Dmn Racers!

"Alright, Hanzou, this is only a test." Tamotsu strapped into the passenger seat of the purple JZA180 as Hanzou strapped in himself. "I just wanna see how fast this Supra can go."

Hanzou closed the drivers' side door and inserted the key into the ignition. "Well, if that Camaro comes up on me I don't plan on losing. I'm gonna go all out."

"Of course you are…" Tamotsu muttered to himself as the unrestricted 2JZ-GTE engine rumbled into life, rattling the floor underneath him with its loud, lumpy idle. "Give it your best shot."

Hanzou pressed in the clutch and the BBS Reverse Mesh wheels rolled out onto the open highway, low-end torque pushing the Supra faster until it was doing a good 200 km/h.

"Once we pass the toll booths…you know what to do," Tamotsu instructed as the Supra passed a Toyota Caldina on the right side.

"No problem," replied Hanzou as he upshifted into fourth and the engine's revs slowly decreased.

HID headlights shining into the night, the low, wide, and loud Toyota muscle machine eased into the toll booths.

The toll booth man glared out at the outlandish-looking car which was shaking up the booth with its loud exhaust.

Hanzou grinned at him, paid the toll, and gunned the purple JZA180 into action out through the tunnels.

The toll man swore as another low car, this one painted a simple red pulled in, exhausts even louder than the other's. The teen driver paid the toll and burned rubber with ease entering the highway.

"Damn racers," the man swore as the red Camaro chased after the purple Supra.

The tunnel lights flew by in flashes of yellow light, illuminating the purple, Veilside-equipped Toyota in streaks of light as the engine's note turned from a low grumble to a screaming bellow, shaking even the tunnel's foundations with its new found power. Tamotsu looked on, unshaken as the digital readout passed by 250 km/h.

Aside from the howl of the 3.0 liter six-cylinder, the cabin of the Supra was deadly silent. Neither Tamotsu nor Hanzou dared talk for fear of distraction.

Then there was a sound like no other behind them.

_No way…_

The shining headlights of a red Camaro shone out through the night behind them. They flickered.

"Go!" yelled Tamotsu.


	20. Hanzou, Tamotsu, and the Camaro

The boost gauge flicked up to almost 2 bar as Hanzou's right foot pressed the accelerator hard down. The rear tires, surging with the 2JZ's power, kicked the car almost sideways, white smoke spewing out until Hanzou lightened his touch and the Supra pulled away.

Tamotsu looked over to Hanzou, whose knuckles were white on the Momo steering wheel. "I want you to remember that turning won't come easy on this now. I removed the spoiler and slightly lowered the car for better top-end but you're not going to get the grip in turns and passing is going to be a bit tougher so watch it."

"No problem. Wasting this guy will be cake."

"I hope so…"

The lights flashed through the tunnel as the Supra slammed into fourth and the rear slightly broke loose from the roadway.

"Hold it steady…"

A lumbering truck rolled on in the center lane.

"Remember, Hanzou…"

"I know, I know."

Engines howling, both cars smoothly passed it, the Supra screaming by on the left and the Camaro following it on the right.

"280…290…"

Hanzou's heart pounded through his chest as the dotted lines on the road turned into a solid white blur. Tamotsu watched as the young driver barely missed a white Subaru Legacy, which blew its horn in return as the purple bullet blew by at over 300 km. Hanzou was not looking good. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, which was white as snow along with his knuckles, which were throbbing under the control of the barreling vehicle.

_Damnit…Jyn was right. Hanzou is too green for a full-out battle like this. I just hope…he doesn't crack._

Hanzou checked the rearview. Again.

"He's right up my ass!"

The quad headlights shone into the rear window of the Japanese coupe, illuminating driver and passenger.

"Tamotsu…I can't lose him!!"

_We're only inches away from pure destruction…_

"Hanzou, relax. Keep your emotions out of your driving...after all, our opponent is an unknown variable. He could easily prey on the emotions of his opponents."

"Right."

But to Tamotsu, Hanzou was now even more tense than before. He held the steering wheel intensely with both hands and stared straight ahead, eyes wide with terror.

_He's got a bad case of tunnel vision...damn you, Hanzou, for this! If you don't settle down, we're both going to die!_

A single truck sat in the center lane, hazard lights flashing as it sat, broken down, in the middle of the freeway, inches away from the end of the tunnel.

_Gotta pass him…_

Hanzou, shaking like a leaf in autumn, gingerly turned the wheel, letting off the throttle pedal for worry of a spinout. The truck flashed by, but he was going to fast to make it through the left bend that had appeared out of nowhere!

"Crap…the corner!!"

Hanzou completely panicked. He slammed on his brakes, skidding out of control across the road in an understeer that gave new definition to the word _terminal._

Both Hanzou and Tamotsu watched their lives flash in front of their eyes at light speed. Fading to black, Tamotsu suddenly saw the Camaro heading straight for them in the outside lane!

"Damn!!"

Ichiro knew he had no choice. At about 250 km/h, he knew he had to think fast as the chunk of metal spun across the lanes, towards him and what would be his doom.

_Through the center...it's the only way!!!!_

Though his conscience told him he was absolutely crazy, Ichiro punched the throttle, and like a bat out of hell, he screamed by in the outside lane, the Supra's rear bumper missing him by inches.

_If I would've slowed down...I would've died!_

Tamotsu, in a last-ditch effort to save his (and Hanzou's) life, grabbed the E-brake. This desperate grasp saved him. The rear end finally broke free of the road, dropping speed.

_Maybe…we're safe?_

There was a sickening crunch and all was still.


	21. Consequences and Tears

"Wake up…wake up man."

Hanzou opened his eyes slowly, then closed them again. There was a throbbing agony in his head.

"Thank God…we've got one."

He opened his eyes again to view a medic and a young teen, perhaps 17, looking down into his eyes. A bright light shone down overhead. "Wha…where…am I?"

The medic, an older Japanese man, slightly balding, spoke up. "An ambulance. You should feel lucky to be alive after that crash, son."

"Crash…shit! Tamotsu!"

"The other…he's not as good. He was in the right side and went straight into the barrier."

"The Supra?"

"We'll talk about that when you're feeling a bit better," the teen replied with a grim smile.

The medic turned away from the gurney and looked over to the cabinets.

"Who are you, then?" Hanzou asked weakly, though he felt a little bit stronger.

"Nakamura Ichiro," replied the black-haired teen. "I saw the wreck…firsthand, shall we say."

"You're the…Devil's Camaro…you…you're just a kid!!!" he spluttered.

The medics jumped up and ran over, holding onto the vibrating driver. "No more talking until we get to the hospital. You're going to kill him, you!" They looked angrily at Ichiro, eyes blazing.

"Jeez…chill out."

Another five minutes took them to the Tokyo Hospital, where another ambulance had just pulled in.

Hanzou was wheeled out on his gurney, silently eyeing the hospital from his position. Ichiro watched too, then saw something that caught his eye. He tried to stifle his gasp of dismay, but Hanzou had already heard him.

Hanzou looked in the other direction, cursing his aching neck, and saw the thing that had made Ichiro gasp. Another gurney was being lowered from the other ambulance.

The body on it was under a sheet. A single toe hung out, displaying a tag.

Hanzou screamed and for the second time that night, everything went black and very, very still.

The medics swore at Ichiro in Japanese. "Out!" they cried. "Out!"

Ichiro swore and hailed a cab to take him back to his waiting machine.

By the time he got home, it was 3 AM.


	22. Discovery

Ichiro rubbed the sleep from his eyes. _ Two and a half hours' of sleep…ugghhh._

Images of the body flashed into his head, causing him to involuntarily shiver.

_I killed him!!!_

Jotaro looked over at the clammy driver, sitting upright in bed, a cold sweat trickling down his forehead. "Are you alright, Ichiro? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Urrggh…no…I'm fine."

Jotaro chuckled. "Relax. Two more days, then we're off."

Ichiro nodded weakly.

Ichiro skipped breakfast, but his stomach felt even worse, if possible, when he got into the passenger side of the black R32. Queasiness was overwhelming him and the cold sweat had given way to intermittent shivers.

The whole effect was lost on Jotaro, who couldn't seem to get the Skyline to fire. Ichiro waited patiently as he checked under the hood, cursing his luck.

Finally, Jotaro's father had to take out the Mark II and drive them himself. Ichiro, as it would be, had completely forgotten about Nao and as the weather took a turn for the worse, Ichiro found himself looking over to a soaking-wet Nao on her way in, later than ever. She wore an angry pout very unlike her usual self.

Ichiro knew he couldn't stomach much more of the day, let alone a full-on lecture on why he was lucky to have her, why he should treat her nice, and after all, you're supposed to be smart!

He swore and ducked into the building, ruing his unwise decision and also ruing the fact that he spotted Masashi running down the hall towards him.

"You…!!!" Masashi screamed, causing the whole hallway to instantly become noiseless while its inhabitants stared, wide-eyed, at the two kids.

"Me?"

Masashi finally caught up with him, and slapped him on the shoulder, breathless. "You're that Devil's Camaro!!!"

"Wha…how…"

"Hanzou…he's my cousin!" Masashi yelled back. "You liar!!! You said you didn't even _have _a car. And you're out on the highway destroying all these top-class racers!"

The hallway was full of whispers, and though Ichiro did not like the idea of everyone knowing his secret, many looked at the geeky teen with a newfound respect.

"…he drives that Camaro?"

"…all those rumors are lies…"

"…wow, I never thought…"

"…and I always thought he was some rich kid…"

Of course, Shinya and Jotaro were pissed. Jotaro kept asking how the stupid idiot who'd destroyed a perfectly good FD on the Hakone downhill had managed to drift around an out-of-control Supra. Shinya wouldn't even talk to him for the rest of the day. In fact, Ichiro's presence was completely changed at the school. Teachers even looked at him in other ways. Mr. Fukuda, an avid racing fan, especially in JGTC, asked Ichiro how he had done it and, rather, how he'd even found those parts in Japan.

The day ended with Ichiro pulling the car out of the garage to the enjoyment of most, especially Nao, who had quite forgiven him for the rain incident.

The two took a white-knuckle ride down the expressway that night.


	23. Clash Of The Titans Part I

Alright, I've submitted quite a few new (albeit short) chapters I've recently written. This one contains an Initial D character (I know, I know, finally). Also, another character shows up from another fic.

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V8 engine bellowing beneath him, Ichiro blazed the Camaro past a string of trucks on the left at 220 km/h. Nao giggled with delight in the passenger seat as she watched the trucks fly by as if standing still-and compared to the V8 muscle car, they were.

Ichiro smoothly slid the red racing car across two lanes and breezed by two lanes full of cars, headlights shining on the road ahead.

Finally, the road quieted down-it was unusually jam-packed for 11 PM. But there was still one car behind him…

Unlike all the cars he'd ever raced against, this car sounded like it packed a real punch. Anyone who would mistake it for anything other than a classic American high-displacement V8 would be very, very wrong.

_Another American car…a real challenge!_

The lights of the foreign car flashed in the night as it swung in behind the Camaro, moving at a decreased 200 km/h.

"Nao…tighten your seatbelt and, for Buddha's sake, grab onto something."

Then he depressed the clutch and downshifted, the engine giving a mighty roar as it vaporized the rear tires.

Keisuke Takahashi couldn't remember why he was still in Tokyo. He hated everything about the _Wangan_scene, full of its GT-Rs, Porsches, and Supras, his absolute kryptonite. His laser yellow Mazda FD3S, considered an eyesore to many, was tuned for uphill climbing, mainly on Mount Akagi in the Gunma prefecture.

He decided that a run on Tokyo's famous C1 route would be a quick way to improve his technique…after all he had to beat that 86-driving Fujiwara to go pro, a position his brother had famously turned down.

At the same time, Jotaro's black GT-R screamed down the same highway, Jotaro sighing as he thought where his best friend in the world was, and what he was doing.

"While I'm stuck with a measly R32, a tiny paycheck to maintain it with, and strict parents, he's out blowing off GTOs, Supras, and NSXs."

In his rage, he almost rear-ended a yellow FD3S pulling onto the C1 after a blind curve.

"Well, well, well, we have a racer on the hook."

Keisuke took the slow left and screamed out, rotary engine spinning up to 9,000 RPMs before he shifted.

"Sorry, GT-R. But I don't succumb to poseurs in muscle cars."

He pressed his foot all the way down, then tapped the brakes and slid through the shallow curves, right into left, totally ignoring the lane dividers.

"Fast in the corners…though his straightaway speed is nothing."

Jotaro's heart pulsed as the R32's nose barely scraped the inside rail, then maneuvered into the second corner, tires squealing, then gripping the road.

The ground the FD had gained was instantly negated pulling out of the corners by the R32's powerful AWD. But before Jotaro could catch up, another corner had arisen.

They were dead even by the time the next corner had approached.

"You're not too bad, GT-R. Better than Nakazato, anyhow. But I'm still going to stick it in your face for driving such a blasphemy."

Side-by-side, thunder-and-lightning, hammer-and-tongs, they screamed into the tunnel, engine notes clashing like the Titans thousands of years ago.

A few miles away, Nao clutched onto the grab handle for dear life, plugging her ears with a shaking hand and a shoulder. Torque vaporized the rear wheels, throwing the torque hound Camaro sideways. Ichiro clung on tightly, managing the throttle with more grace than he thought he ever could when he'd just bought the American machine. G-forces pressed him back into his racing seat and his vision blurred. He'd never actually been able to take it all-out before…but now was the time, since the tires were adequately worn in. Not that it had stopped him before.

_A turbo, eh?_

The car suddenly began to burn rubber and smoke wafted from the rear tires like there was a raging inferno behind the car. As it began to catch up at insane speeds, Ichiro could finally see what it was.

The car was massive and shaped like a brick. Quad circular headlights shone out from a wide, full-length grille. The car was raised in the rear, and completely black…in fact, it almost looked like carbon.

"That would explain the speed from such a monster."

Ichiro clomped in the heavy clutch and threw the Camaro into another gear, knuckles turning white from his unyielding grip on the three-spoke wheel. Nao let out a scream as Ichiro barely missed a truck.

_He's insane! Not going to slow down for anything!_

She wouldn't let herself even look at the speedometer…the car was only in third and it was going at least three times the speed of a truck by now. She closed her eyes and shook her head as she looked down at the white lines, now becoming a solid blur.

The car behind was staying closely with him, staying exactly behind the car, move after move, headlights almost blinding Ichiro.

_I will not be daunted!_

Another clash of the titans was occurring!


	24. Clash Of The Titans Part II

Jotaro grabbed the gearshift, didn't look down as he threw it back and to the left and applied the powerful four-wheel disc anti-lock brakes to the mighty task of slowing the overweight GT-R. They clamped to the rotors, slowing down the rapidly rolling Toyo tires equipped on the R. Jotaro lifted off the brakes, to cure understeer, and gripped the inside of the uphill right-hander, front air dam missing the inside curb of the tunnel by inches.

Keisuke was straightening out the FD3S ahead, white tire smoke wafting in the air after the flawless drift he had pulled.

The blocky nose of the GT-R almost nudged the rear bumper of the FD as the ATTESA-ETS torque splitter kicked in and rocketed the GT-R back at the FD, headlights shining on the spiky-haired driver.

"Well, Rotary Boy, let's see how you handle this next corner."

The Tokyo highway's ceiling was once again the open sky, but only for a few meters. A tight (not to mention blind) left-hander then slung highway riders into another tunnel, but not before sloping sharply downwards, throwing off and seriously injuring more than one fast-and-furious who'd thought he was invincible.

In fact, one such fast-and-furious, a young driver named Tsukamoto (though not related to the GTO-driving king of the Shinkanjou highway), had completely destroyed his S14 Silvia in this same corner not five minutes prior.

"Damn it, damn it, Damn it!"

Tsukamoto was now seriously depressed. Two days ago, his girlfriend had dumped him for a foreign man. The day before, he'd dropped his wallet on the subway and couldn't buy cigarettes.

He was lucky enough to walk away without a scratch, but the S14 couldn't. The front end was crumpled beyond recognition, the airbags had deployed, and the front wheels were pointing in opposite directions. He'd be surprised if the SR20DET even fired at this point.

The Silvia's length, however, was in the worst spot for a car accident. Although it was only blocking one lane, it was the outside lane in a blind downhill-curving corner where civilians could steer clear of it (barely), but any racer intent on taking the outside corner wouldn't be able to swerve around it in time. Of course, Tsukamoto didn't have warning triangles either, or anything of the sort.

A minivan flashed by on the left as Keisuke's speedometer realized 160 km/h, but only then did he spot the corner.

"Shit!"

Keisuke slammed on the brakes, realizing he'd have to take the outside line. Jotaro powered down behind in the massive GT-R.

Then they both found themselves staring down a wrecked S14 Silvia.

An accident was seemingly unavoidable!

"This one…is for you, Kenneth!"

Richard Meihue was sulking again over the breakup of the Southern Nights, a team formerly comprised of himself, Kenneth Ethridge, and a Camaro driver named Brandon. Behind the wheel of his behemoth carbon fiber-bodied 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle, powered by an LS6-level 454 complete with a turbo, Richard had helped the team to many a checkered flag. His fight with Kenneth still lingered in his mind. Once the best of friends in South Carolina, they were now bitter enemies.

Richard was a great driver, but a recent injury had left him on crutches for a few weeks, so his reaction times were slower. He upshifted into fourth, depressing a clutch every bit as heavy as that on the Camaro, Chevelle surging forth underneath him.

He didn't mind that his car was about as aerodynamic as a brick. With the lightened body and power of the 454, he knew he couldn't lose.

Ichiro was feeling the heat up ahead. He slammed the gearshift into the fourth ratio as the speedometer crested 250 kilos and kept on its upward climb. The tunnel lights were simply blips now and Nao was calming down, though the air inside the cabin was thick as molasses. Smoothly as skiing, Ichiro powered by cars that clustered the road ahead and took the left-hander coming out of the tunnel with practiced ease.

Richard's Chevelle was less adept at that corner, but powering out, he began to pull up to the Camaro again…then he was hit with a gust of wind which sent both cars over into the rightmost lane.

Richard had raced in much, but racing at almost 300 kilos in gusts of wind was not in his expertise. His hands began to shake as high winds buffeted the Chevelle from all angles. Despite its power and weight, the Chevelle's high-raised, brick-like shape was no match for the wind.

_Well, _Richard thought to himself as he lifted off the throttle and maneuvered through the currents of strong wind, _He's gotta slow down, too right?_

The Camaro then spun its rear tires and its tail lights began to slowly disappear.

_How…!? He's got to be experiencing the same problems as I am!_

The low-mounted wedge shape of the later car proved to be its salvation. Ichiro felt the pummeling wind as much as Richard, but the fact that the Camaro was almost riding on the road surface gave it extra stability.

_If he can do it…then I surely can!_

Richard's brow furrowed as he pressed the throttle down hard and the rear wheels responded willingly, powering the blocky American muscle machine forward with a will.

RRRRRR!!!!

The engine roared as Richard surged forward, catching up to the Camaro with ease, thanks to his engine's seemingly endless well of power.

The winds had seemingly abated…

Then both cars were hit with another gust that rivaled a hurricane!

Nao screamed.

Richard took his foot off the throttle, but the rear of the Chevelle had already connected with the rail, sending him into a spin!

"Damnit, hold steady!"

Richard saw the world spinning rapidly before his eyes. He counter-steered, trying to even the lost Chevelle out.

But by the time he did, the demonic Camaro was lost into the night.

Keisuke gasped as his beloved FD headed towards the immobile S14.

_This is a sure wreck!_

Understeer was still controlling the FD in the tightly-sloped corner. Keisuke's wheel was shaking in his hands…or was it his hands that were shaking? He didn't know any more. All he knew was that there was no way out of this. His foot surged towards the brakes…then he remembered!

_That move…that my brother pulled in Fujiwara's race against Nakazato…it just might work!!_

Jotaro watched in terror from behind as the rear wheels of the FD went up in white smoke and the FD amazingly, seemingly in slow motion, skidded across the road sideways, finally making it into the inside lane. But the S14's tail…

Keisuke was drifting too wide to miss the outstretched rear of the S14, its driver cowering in his seat. The rear bumper, complete with massive spoiler, collided with the rear of the S14, sending the FD skidding in the opposite direction!

Keisuke slammed on the brakes as the front of the FD3S collided with the tunnel wall!

The E-brake pulled, brakes deployed, the GT-R slowly swung into the inside lane but even with the Silvia's rear deployed, Jotaro couldn't move the car fast enough.

The right side of the R32 turned what was left of the S14's rear into automotive cottage cheese as it plowed through in a heavy understeer. The R32 finally stopped slightly past where the FD3S lay, damaged and bleeding oil.

For seconds, the only noise Jotaro could hear was his own breathing and the idling of his engine. Finally, he turned on the hazards, killed the RB26, and walked out to Keisuke's damaged car.

Keisuke, too, was absolutely fine except for the fact that his pride and joy, his FD3S, was crashed into a tunnel wall in the middle of Tokyo, miles away from his home.

Tsukamoto ran over to the FD as Keisuke stepped out, cursing his ill luck and the stupid noob who'd almost killed all three of them.

"You stupid idiot!" Keisuke swore. "We almost got killed because of your stupidity. You didn't even have your damn hazards on! What were you trying to do, cause a wreck like this!? We're lucky enough that we managed to steer out of the way just in time…though I guess I'll have to stay here in a hotel!"

"I knew Tokyo was a bad idea…"

Jotaro stood silently by the sulking Gunma driver. "Where are you from?"

"Gunma prefecture…near Mount Akagi. You know where that is?"

"I know where Haruna is," Jotaro replied. "Look, if need be, I can let you stay at my place…though it's getting crowded. I can find the best garage money can by. Your baby will be absolutely fine. You'll live to destroy many another racer."

Keisuke looked up, no longer angry. "You're not too bad of a racer yourself…though I frown on the machinery."

"Many do…but I put it to the best use I can." Jotaro looked up at the FD. "Your car still looks driveable. Let's clean 'er up and get 'er home."


End file.
